• Escobar: The Valdai Meeting – Where West Asia Meets Multipolarity
  Escobar: The Valdai Meeting – Where West Asia Meets Multipolarity

  Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

  At Russia’s Valdai Club meeting – the east’s answer to Davos – intellectuals and influencers gathered to frame West Asia’s current and future developments…

  

  The 12th “Middle East Conference” at the Valdai Club in Moscow offered a more than welcome cornucopia of views on interconnected troubles and tribulations affecting the region.

  But first, an important word on terminology – as only one of Valdai’s guests took the trouble to stress. This is not the “Middle East” – a reductionist, Orientalist notion devised by old colonials: at The Cradle we emphasize the region must be correctly described as West Asia.

  Some of the region’s trials and tribulations have been mapped by the official Valdai report, The Middle East and The Future of Polycentric World.  But the intellectual and political clout of those in attendance can provide valuable anecdotal insights too. Here are a few of the major strands participants highlighted on regional developments, current and future:

  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov set the stage by stressing that Kremlin policy encourages the formation of an “inclusive regional security system.” That’s exactly what the Americans refused to discuss with the Russians in December 2021, then applied to Europe and the post-Soviet space. The result was a proxy war.

  Kayhan Barzegar of Islamic Azad University in Iran qualified the two major strategic developments affecting West Asia: a possible US retreat and a message to regional allies: “You cannot count on our security guarantees.”

  Every vector – from rivalry in the South Caucasus to the Israeli normalization with the Persian Gulf – is subordinated to this logic, notes Barzegar, with quite a few Arab actors finally understanding that there now exists a margin of maneuver to choose between the western or the non-western bloc.

  Barzegar does not identify Iran-Russia ties as a strategic alliance, but rather a geopolitical, economic bloc based on technology and regional supply chains – a “new algorithm in politics” – ranging from weapons deals to nuclear and energy cooperation, driven by Moscow’s revived southern and eastward orientations. And as far as Iran-western relations go, Barzegar still believes the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, is not dead. A least not yet.

  ‘Nobody knows what these rules are’

  Egyptian Ramzy Ramzy, until 2019 the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, considers the reactivation of relations between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE with Syria as the most important realignment underway in the region. Not to mention prospects for a Damascus-Ankara reconciliation. “Why is this happening? Because of the regional security system’s dissatisfaction with the present,” Ramzy explains.

  Yet even if the US may be drifting away, “neither Russia nor China are willing to take up a leadership role,” he says. At the same time, Syria “cannot be allowed to fall prey to outside interventions. The earthquake at least accelerated these rapprochements.”

  Bouthaina Shaaban, a special advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is a remarkable woman, fiery and candid. Her presence at Valdai was nothing short of electric. She stressed how “since the US war in Vietnam, we lost what we witnessed as free media. The free press has died.” At the same time “the colonial west changed its methods,” subcontracting wars and relying on local fifth columnists.

  Shaaban volunteered the best short definition anywhere of the “rules-based international order”: “Nobody knows what these rules are, and what this order is.”

  She re-emphasized that in this post-globalization period that is ushering in regional blocs, the usual western meddlers prefer to use non-state actors – as in Syria and Iran – “mandating locals to do what the US would like to do.”

  A crucial example is the US al-Tanf military base that occupies sovereign Syrian territory on two critical borders. Shaaban calls the establishment of this base as “strategic, for the US to prevent regional cooperation, at the Iraq, Jordan, and Syria crossroads.” Washington knows full well what it is doing: unhampered trade and transportation at the Syria-Iraq border is a major lifeline for the Syrian economy.

  Reminding everyone once again that “all political issues are connected to Palestine,” Shaaban also offered a healthy dose of gloomy realism: “The eastern bloc has not been able to match the western narrative.”

  A ‘double-layered proxy war’

  Cagri Erhan, rector of Altinbas University in Turkey, offered a quite handy definition of a Hegemon: the one who controls the lingua franca, the currency, the legal setting, and the trade routes.

  Erhan qualifies the current western hegemonic state of play as “double-layered proxy war” against, of course, Russia and China. The Russians have been defined by the US as an “open enemy” – a major threat. And when it comes to West Asia, proxy war still rules: “So the US is not retreating,” says Erhan. Washington will always consider using the area “strategically against emerging powers.”

  Then what about the foreign policy priorities of key West Asian and North African actors?

  Algerian political journalist Akram Kharief, editor of the online MenaDefense, insists Russia should get closer to Algeria, “which is still in the French sphere of influence,” and be wary of how the Americans are trying to portray Moscow as “a new imperial threat to Africa.”

  Professor Hasan Unal of Maltepe University in Turkiye made it quite clear how Ankara finally “got rid of its Middle East [West Asian] entanglements,” when it was previously “turning against everybody.”

  Mid-sized powers such as Turkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are now stepping to the forefront of the region’s political stage. Unal notes how “Turkiye and the US don’t see eye to eye on any issue important to Ankara.” Which certainly explains the strengthening of Turkish-Russian ties – and their mutual interest in introducing “multi-faceted solutions” to the region’s problems.

  For one, Russia is actively mediating Turkiye-Syria rapprochement. Unal confirmed that the Syrian and Turkish foreign ministers will soon meet in person – in Moscow – which will represent the highest-ranking direct engagement between the two nations since the onset of the Syrian war. And that will pave the way for a tripartite summit between Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

  Note that the big regional reconciliations are being held – once again – either in, or with the participation of Moscow, which can rightfully be described as the capital of the 21st century multipolar world.

  When it comes to Cyprus, Unal notes how “Russia would not be interested in a unified state that would be EU and NATO territory.” So it’s time for “creative ideas: as Turkey is changing its Syria policy, Russia should change its Cyprus policy.”

  Dr. Gong Jiong, from the Israeli campus of China’s University of International Business and Economics, came up with a catchy neologism: the “coalition of the unwilling” – describing how “almost the whole Global South is not supporting sanctions on Russia,” and certainly none of the players in West Asia.

  Gong noted that as much as China-Russia trade is rising fast – partly as a direct consequence of western sanctions – the Americans would have to think twice about China-hit sanctions. Russia-China trade stands at $200 billion a year, after all, while US-China trade is a whopping $700 billion per annum.

  The pressure on the “neutrality camp” won’t relent anyway. What is needed by the world’s “silent majority,” as Gong defines it, is “an alliance.” He describes the 12-point Chinese peace plan for Ukraine as “a set of principles” – Beijing’s base for serious negotiations: “This is the first step.”

  There will be no new Yalta

  What the Valdai debates made crystal clear, once again, is how Russia is the only actor capable of approaching every player across West Asia, and be listened to carefully and respectfully.

  It was left to Anwar Abdul-Hadi, director of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the latter’s official envoy to Damascus, to arguably sum up what led to the current global geopolitical predicament: “A new Yalta or a new world war? They [the west] chose war.”

  And still, as new geopolitical and geoeconomic fault lines keep emerging, it is as though West Asia is anticipating something “big” coming ahead. That feeling was palpable in the air at Valdai.

  To paraphrase Yeats, and updating him to the young, turbulent 21st century, “what rough beast, its hour come out at last, slouches towards the cradle [of civilization] to be born?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 23:40

• Is The Greater Idaho Movement A Model For National Divorce From The Political Left?
  Is The Greater Idaho Movement A Model For National Divorce From The Political Left?

  They said it was an absurd waste of time, but now, the progressive coastal regions of Oregon and Democrats in Idaho are getting a little worried about the “Greater Idaho Movement,” with at least 11 eastern Oregon counties officially voting to leave the state and join their more conservative neighbors in Idaho.  Democrats were saying that the move was impossible, but with momentum growing they are now suggesting that the break-up is “bad for the country.” 

  Why is it bad for the country if a handful of conservative counties decide to freely walk away from the state of Oregon and join with Idaho?  Leftists do not explain the assertion, but one can deduce from their behavior a number of probable conclusions.   

  Common arguments Democrats in Oregon and Idaho make against the move are usually an attempt to dissuade Idaho citizens from wanting to pursue secession measures.  The core claim is that the state of Idaho would have to subsidize the new counties, with Dems suggesting that rural areas are a drain on high revenue centers like Portland.

  This stems from the leftist argument that red counties and states “cannot survive” economically when detached from blue regions. 

  It’s simply not true.

  Firstly, if rural counties are a financial sinkhole for progressive states, then why are they so opposed to rural counties leaving?  Would this not enrich blue counties beyond belief?  While at least one study shows that Idaho would incur expenses such as Medicaid costs, it also shows that the state actually stands to gain an extra $170 million in net revenue with the new counties in place, along with an even greater conservative majority population, all without people being forced to relocate. 

  Secondly, if we are talking about economic usefulness, it’s important to remember that the majority of people that grow food, produce goods, repair goods and keep the supply chain running are conservative leaning.  Leftists produce very little other than complaints and misery.

  The big question Democrats are not asking is why so many Oregon counties want to leave the state at all?  They don’t ask because they don’t care.  Diplomacy and reconciliation with the conservative population has never crossed their minds.  Only now with the secession movement gaining traction are they suddenly interested.

  

  Let’s use the mega-leftist sanctum of Portland as an example of why conservative regions want to break away from progressive controlled regions:

  In 2021 alone, Portland witnessed a 38% spike in violent crime including homicides and rapes.  Property crime rose by 17%.  The city also set an all time record for number of homicides in 2021.  In 2022, the city breezed past the homicide record once again.  Portland was once listed among the safest cities in America – Not anymore.

  Crime rates skyrocketed almost immediately after Portland embraced the far-left BLM and Antifa calls to “defund the police.”  The city had to reverse course on this stance 18 months later as the program proved to be a dismal failure. 

  On the indoctrination end of things, the Oregon Board of Education has advised schools to “keep student gender identities hidden from families.”  This is on top of the already expansive agenda to inject gender identity politics into classrooms in Oregon.  So, what they are saying essentially is that “we are going to brainwash your children with woke ideology, and we are going to lie to you about our curriculum to keep you in the dark.”

  Public school policies in Oregon revolve around dictates drafted in progressive controlled counties.  Rural counties can fight back by putting pressure on their local school boards, but it will be a constant battle with losing prospects unless they break from leftist influence completely.

  Another big factor in making conservatives want to leave Oregon was the recent draconian covid lockdowns and mandates enforced by the Democrat controlled state government.  Many conservative county officials fought back against these mandates while enduring threats of legal retribution and even arrest.  The leftists revealed their true authoritarian natures during the pandemic event and a number of people ranging from conservative to independent suddenly realized how bad the situation can really get if they remain under the governmental oversight of Democrats.  

  It makes perfect sense for red counties to want to break away from blue states after the kinds of chaos leftists have created within our nation in the past few years alone.  When Dems say this would be “bad for the country” what they really mean is that it will be bad for them.  The Greater Idaho Movement may have a very slim chance of success in the long run, but it puts the issue of national divorce front and center in the public consciousness, and they don’t like that.

  Democrat representatives like Ned Burns in Idaho asserts that the political system works best “When there’s a balance of different viewpoints,” arguing that efforts “to build a one-party state lead to extremism and that can be very dangerous.”

  Idaho Democrat Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow echoed this sentiment:  

  “While there are vast political differences in our region, Greater Idaho is not the proper remedy for those differences,” said Wintrow. “Our democratic republic depends on level heads coming together to find solutions to the issues that impact our citizens. Dividing state borders to create enclaves of politically like-minded people is the opposite of a healthy America.”  

  But we already have extremist regions of the country in the form of blue states, we saw that clear as day during the covid mandates.  Not only that, cooperation within the status quo only seems to be the Democrat rally cry when progressives are in power. Only five years ago leftists in states like California widely called for secession from the US over the election of Donald Trump.  Today, they rail against a few counties seceding, not from the country, but merely from Oregon.

  The political left views everything through the lens of collectivism.  They see people as property of their model of society, which they consider the only model for society.  If Americans are allowed to walk away, then this might reflect badly on progressive society as a whole.  If people are allowed to build their own systems elsewhere they might prove that the leftist system is frail, oppressive and unstable.  If people have the ability to choose and take their county and their land with them, why would they stay under the governance of a leftist dominated place?

  The ability to walk away would completely destroy the leftist socialist dynamic.  They can only survive if they are able to force people to participate in their model while requiring those same prisoners to adopt woke beliefs.  They see conservative congregation and secession as a threat to their aims to absorb the entire nation; not just half of US states, but all of America. The rest of the US would do well to take the Greater Idaho Movement seriously as it represents a feeling that is growing across the country – We are at an impasse. 

  There are two completely separate cultures in America today and they cannot coexist.   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 23:20

• Top Military Enlisted Say Housing And Pay Issues Hurt Recruitment, Retention
  Top Military Enlisted Say Housing And Pay Issues Hurt Recruitment, Retention

  Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The military’s top enlisted members say poor housing, health care, childcare, and pay problems are deleterious to recruiting and retention.

  

  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) claimed that a plan promoted by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to freeze discretionary spending at FY 2022 levels would only make things worse.

  “We can’t take a giant leap backward,” Wasserman Schultz said.

  The highest-ranking enlisted people for each service testified in an oversight hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies on Feb. 28. They said the Department of Defense (DOD) must address quality of life issues.

  Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston told the subcommittee that the problem extends beyond just soldiers’ morale. It could impact national security.

  “This is an American problem,” he said.

  Grinston said the Army had dedicated approximately $1.5 billion to family housing, soldiers’ barracks, and childcare facilities on Army posts worldwide. He said these problems are aggravating matters stemming from pay issues and increased demands on enlisted personnel.

  Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea agreed. He said that Navy hospitals in the Pacific Northwest had been recently downsized, forcing Navy personnel to drive farther from their bases for medical care. This only adds to the pressure already felt by many in the enlisted ranks.

  “We will begin losing employees that are mission critical,” Honea said.

  The housing issue began around the mid-1990s as military budgets were cut after the Cold War.

  Approximately 180,000 housing units needed renovation or replacement at that time, according to the Military Housing Association (MHA).

  In 1996, Congress authorized the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). Under the MHPI, each branch contracted with private property managers to handle military housing. The MHA was formed to represent those property managers.

  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) had issued several reports documenting complaints about mold, pests, lack of maintenance, rundown housing units, and rude and indifferent responses from property managers when they requested help.

  According to the most recent GAO report, DOD is increasing its oversight of the MHPI. However, it is hampered by the fact that it deals with civilian property managers.

  Dealing With Civilians Complicates Things

  “Nevertheless, oversight of the privatized family housing problem will likely continue to face challenges.

  In part, because DOD cannot unilaterally make changes to projects without the concurrence of the private companies,” the March 2022 GAO report reads.

  For example, the report mentions a Tenant Bill of Rights, which the DOD ordered by Congress to implement in February 2020. By March 2022, the managers of properties at five military installations had not agreed to the Bill of Rights.

  Pay issues were further aggravating the problems, the military members said.

  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at least 20,000 military families, 213,000 National Guard and Reserve members, and 1.1 million veterans qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Grinston said the issue is “a math problem.”

  He said that across-the-board pay increases don’t address the realities that enlisted troops face. While their pay increases, it doesn’t increase comparable to that of commissioned officers. As a result, enlisted pay often fails to keep pace with inflation, the cost of living where the troops live, and other factors.

  “Inflation is real, the supply chain is real, these basic needs compete with one another,” said Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Troy Black.

  Grinston said all military branches are doing more to teach enlisted members money management skills. Ultimately DOD will have to develop a better formula for adjusting military pay, according to Grinston. He said that leaving this issue unaddressed would reflect poorly on the military.

  “We really wouldn’t want our service members to be eligible for that benefit,” Grinston said.

  Wasserman Schultz asked how a cut in the defense budget would impact the issues they had discussed.

  She referenced a promise to hold discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels that the Republican “Freedom Caucus” got from McCarthy in his bid to become Speaker.

  The plan does not exempt DOD. Wasserman Schultz said this could cost the military $4 billion in lost funding.

  Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said such a cut would force all the military services to decide which programs to cut.

  “Any cut to those (housing, childcare, health care) would put your services in a position where they have to make those very tough decisions.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 23:00

• Retail Investors Buy Record Amounts Of Six-Month Bills In Monday's Auction
  Retail Investors Buy Record Amounts Of Six-Month Bills In Monday’s Auction

  Several months ago, a Goldman trader penned the phrase JOMO (or the Joy Of Missing Out from the daily chaos in stocks) to describe the growing infatuation – across both institutional and retail investors  – with generously-yielding fixed income instruments, at the expense of equities which not that long were the only game in town (a time when FOMO dominated). And nowhere was this more obvious than in today’s 6-Month bill auction.

  As Bloomberg notes, retail investors took the most six-month Treasury bills at an auction in nearly 30 years as high interest rates trumped concerns over Federal Reserve tightening.

  Noncompetitive bidders, a group of bond buyers which tend to be smaller investors that want to passively accept the auction yield without the risk of submitting a competitive bid, took $2.84 billion of six-month bills at Monday’s auction.

  

  That, as shown in the chart below, was a near-record bid by retail, second only to the $2.88 billion awarded on June 27, 1994, Treasury Department data show. At this rate, expect a new record retail print as soon as next week’s 6M Bill auction.

  

  Today’s $48 billion auction stood out in yet another way: the stop-out yield of 4.97% was the highest for a six-month offering since January 2007.

  “Generally, intermediate bills have struggled to generate investor demand due to risks associated with the prospects of a more hawkish Fed, and uncertainty about the debt ceiling,” Jefferies economists Thomas Simons and Aneta Markowska say in a note. “However, with the small cut in supply for 3s, and the high outright yield levels offered, the auctions did a bit better today”

  As a reminder, the yield on six-month bills initially rose above 5% on Feb. 14, making it the first US government obligation to reach that threshold in 16 years. That yield is slightly higher than those on 4-month and one-year bills, which according to BBG reflect reflecting concerns over the trajectory of Fed rate hikes and the risk that Congress will fail to raise the debt ceiling before Treasury exhausts its cash reserves. According to various forecasts, the D-Day will realistically hit some time in September or October, which roughly coincides with the maturity of the current 6Month. Of course, in case of a default, repayment on said Bill will be in limbo indefinitely.

  

  While we doubt that the US will default (there will be the usual last minute fireworks but in the end holdout republicans will fold, although we may need a modest scare in stocks to get there), what is more interesting is that so many retail investors are shifting their portfolios to debt securities, whether floating or fixed rate, that continued tightening by the Fed – which ends up pushing yields even higher – will soon have the effect of easing financial conditions as it boosts how much disposable income savers end up getting in the form of interest income. As for those who never saved anything and live month to month on their credit card, better luck next time.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 22:40

• China's Modest Growth Target Isn't Stalling Reopening Trade
  China’s Modest Growth Target Isn’t Stalling Reopening Trade

  By George Lei, Bloomberg Markets Live strategist and reporter

  China’s 5% growth target may appear underwhelming to some, though it is very much in-line with shifting market expectations since last week’s blowout PMI. The modest objective leaves room for upside growth surprises and bodes well for Chinese equities overall, though Hong Kong stocks are likely to keep outperforming their onshore peers.

  The 5% goal was below the 5.3% consensus in a Bloomberg survey, as well as the 5.5% objective for 2022 and also targets set by most provinces. Conservative as it is, the number won’t necessarily lead to a weak outcome, according to Citigroup, which noted that as recently as 2021 China managed to grow 8.1% versus a 6% target.

  

  The ongoing Congress in Beijing leaves one thing perfectly clear, though: There will be no major stimulus on either fiscal or monetary fronts. The strength of China’s reopening exceeded the expectations of top leaders, who will be more restrained in rolling out new stimulus, Bloomberg reported last week. Now that the 5% target is in place, Citigroup believes any positive data surprises may “limit the extent of downward move” in market interest rates.

  

  What does that mean for equities? As my colleague Sofia Horta e Costa noted, Hong Kong has so far been home to the reopening trade for investors who believe the post-Covid economy is already doing well. Onshore equities, on the contrary, are the stimulus play for those who expect Beijing to deliver more fiscal spending or PBOC liquidity.

  The reopening trade has beaten stimulus bets handily since the end of October when chatter of exiting Covid Zero began to pick up steam. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprise Index has rallied more than 40% over the period, while the onshore benchmark CSI 300 advanced less than half of that. The gap will probably persist, or even widen, in the foreseeable future.

  China’s reopening is likely to be more V-shaped than consensus expectations, with substantial excess savings likely to support consumption, according to a March 6 research report from Morgan Stanley, which expects equities in North Asia ex-Japan to continually outperform as is “typical in the early phases of a bull market.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 22:26

• Hedges: Lynching The Deplorables
  Hedges: Lynching The Deplorables

  Authored by Chris Hedges via The Chris Hedges Report,

  There is little that unites me with those who occupied the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Their vision for America, Christian nationalism, white supremacy, blind support for Trump and embrace of reactionary fact-free conspiracy theories leaves a very wide chasm between their beliefs and mine. But that does not mean I support the judicial lynching against many of those who participated in the Jan. 6 events, a lynching that is mandating years in pretrial detention and prison for misdemeanors. Once rights become privileges, none of us are safe. 

  

  Image: Executing the Law – by Mr. Fish

  The U.S. legal system has a very sordid history. It was used to enforce segregation and legitimize the reign of terror against Black people. It was the hammer that broke the back of militant union movements. It persecuted radicals and reformers in the name of anti-communism. After 9/11, it relentlessly went after Muslim leaders and activists with Special Administrative Measures (SAMs). SAMs, established by the Clinton administration, originally only applied to people who ordered murders from prison or were convicted of mass murder, but are now used to isolate all manner of detainees before and during trial. They severely restrict a prisoner’s communication with the outside world; prohibiting calls, letters and visits with anyone except attorneys and sharply limit contact with family members. The solitary confinement like conditions associated with SAMs undermine any meaningful right to a fair trial according to analysis by groups like the Center for Constitutional Rights and can amount to torture according to the United Nations. Julian Assange faces SAMs or similar conditions should he be extradited to the U.S. The Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA, begun under the Reagan administration, also allows evidence in a trial to be classified and withheld from defendants. The courts, throughout American history, have abjectly served the interests of big business and the billionaire class. The current Supreme Court is one of the most retrograde in decades, rolling back legal protections for vulnerable groups and denying workers protection from predatory corporate abuse.

  At least 1,003 people have been arrested and charged so far for participation in events on Jan. 6, with 476 pleading guilty, in what has been the largest single criminal investigation in U.S. history, according to analysis by Business Insider. The charges and sentences vary, with many receiving misdemeanor sentences such as fines, probation, a few months in prison or a combination of the three. Of the 394 federal defendants who have had their cases adjudicated and sentenced as of Feb. 6, approximately 220 “have been sentenced to periods of incarceration” with a further 100 defendants “sentenced to a period of home detention, including approximately 15 who also were sentenced to a period of incarceration,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. There are six convictions and four guilty pleas on charges of “seditious conspiracy.” This offense is so widely defined that it includes conspiring to levy war against the government on the one hand and delaying the execution of any law on the other. Those charged and convicted of “seditious conspiracy” were accused of collaborating to oppose “the lawful transfer of presidential power by force” by preventing or delaying the Certification of the Electoral College vote. While a few of the organizers of the Jan. 6 protest such as Stewart Rhodes, who founded Oath Keepers, may conceivably be guilty of sedition, and even this is in doubt, the vast majority of those caught up in the incursion of the Capitol did not commit serious crimes, engage in violence or know what they would do in Washington other than protest the election results. 

  Joseph D. McBride went to law school because his brother was serving a 15-year sentence for a crime he did not commit. He provided free legal advice as a law school student to those encamped in Zuccotti Park in New York City during the Occupy movement. Following law school, he worked as a public defender and in the Legal Aid Society. He represents several of those charged in the Jan. 6 incursion, including Richard Barnett. Barnett was photographed in Nancy Pelosi’s office with his leg propped up on her desk. Barnett was convicted by a federal jury, which deliberated for two hours, on eight counts, including disorderly conduct in the Capitol building. He faces up to 47 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 3.

  “The post 9/11 model is being applied to American citizens,” McBride told me when I reached him by phone. “That model is the 19 hijackers. Everyone who is a religious Muslim is a suspect for the next 20 years. They should be waterboarded. They should be put in fucking jail and left in Guantanamo Bay. Lock them up. Throw away the key. Because they are psychopath extremists who believe in Allah and we don’t have time for that. They’re a threat based on who they are, what they look like, what they believe in. When the truth is, the vast majority of these guys don’t do drugs, don’t drink alcohol, they have five kids and they live pretty good lives. But because of the label of ‘terrorism’ and ‘Osama Bin Laden’ and ‘al-Qaeda’, everybody who is a Muslim is now a target. If we get on a plane next to one of these people, we get nervous about it because that’s how much it’s ingrained in us. The same thing is happening, except it’s being applied to a new group of people, primarily white Christians, Trump supporters, for now.” 

  “Power is going to change hands,” he warned. “The Democrats are not going to be in power forever. When power changes hands, that precedent is going to travel with it. If somebody else from the other side gets in and starts to target the people who are in power now, their families, their businesses, their lives, their freedom, then it’s over. America goes from being a free democracy to a tribalist partisan state. Maybe there’s not ethnic-cleansing in the streets, but people are cleansing each other from the workplace, from social media, from the banking system and they’re putting people in jail. That’s where we’re headed. I don’t know why people can’t see what’s on the horizon.”

  The Jan. 6 protestors were not the first to occupy Congressional offices, including Nancy Pelosi’s office. Young environmental activists from the Sunrise Movement, anti-war activists from Code Pink and even congressional staffers have engaged in numerous occupations of congressional offices and interrupted congressional hearings. What will happen to groups such as Code Pink if they occupy congressional offices with Republicans in control of the White House, the Congress and the courts? Will they be held for years in pretrial detention? Will they be given lengthy prison terms based on dubious interpretations of the law? Will they be considered domestic terrorists? Will protests and civil disobedience become impossible?

  McBride said those who walked to the Capitol were not aware that the Department of Justice had created arbitrary markers, what McBride called an “imaginary red line that they draw around the Capitol grounds.” Anyone who crossed that invisible line was charged with violating Capitol grounds.

  He railed against the negative portrayal of the protestors in the media, the White House and Democratic Party leadership, as well as a tainted jury pool in Washington composed of people who have close links to the federal government. He said Change of Venue motions filed by the defense lawyers have been denied.

  “The D.C. jury pool is poisoned beyond repair,” McBride said. “When you just look at what the January 6  Committee did alone, never mind President Biden’s speeches about ‘insurrectionists,’ ‘MAGA Republican extremists’ and all this stuff, and if you just consider the fact that D.C. is very small, that people who work in the Federal Government are all by definition, kind of victims of January 6 and what happened that day, their institutions and colleagues were ‘under attack.’ How can anybody from that town serve on a jury pool? They can’t. The bias is astounding.”

  Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon shaman” who was adorned on Jan. 6 in red, white and blue face paint, carried an American flag on a spear-tipped pole and wore a coyote-fur and horned headdress, pleaded guilty to obstruction. He was sentenced to more than three years in prison. Chansley, who says he is a practitioner of ahimsa, an ancient Indian principle of non-violence toward all living beings, was not accused of assaulting anyone. He was diagnosed in prison with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. 

  Guy Wesley Reffitt, who did not enter the Capitol building, nevertheless was sentenced after three hours of deliberations to seven years and three months in prison on five charges, including “two counts of civil disorder, and one count each of obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a firearm, and obstruction of justice.” His obstruction of justice charge came from “threatening” his two teenage children to prevent them from reporting him to law enforcement.

  Daniel Ray Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran, who sprayed a chemical irritant at a group of police officers outside the Capitol and entered through the Senate Wing doors where he remained inside for approximately two minutes, was sentenced to more than five years in prison. He spent, like many who have been charged, nearly two years in pretrial detention.

  Even the charges against Rhodes, who faces 20 years in prison, and other militia leaders of groups such as the Proud Boys are problematic. The New York Times reported that, “despite the vast amount of evidence the government collected in the case — including more than 500,000 encrypted text messages — investigators never found a smoking gun that conclusively showed the Proud Boys plotted to help President Donald J. Trump remain in office.” The government has relied on the testimony of a former Proud Boy, Jeremy Bertino, who is cooperating with prosecutors to build an “inferential case” against Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola, the five defendants in the current Proud Boy case. Bertino, on cross-examination, admitted that in previous interviews with the government, he repeatedly told investigators that the Proud Boys did not have an explicit plan to halt the election certification and that he did not anticipate acts of violence on Jan. 6. The FBI had as many as eight informants in the Proud Boys that included its leader, Enrique Tarrio, during the storming of the Capitol, raising the very real possibility of entrapment.

  “They’re changing the laws,” McBride said. “Look at the 1512 charge, the obstruction charge. That was used for document shredding in Enron. It has no applicability to Jan. 6 whatsoever. They took it. They repurposed it. They weaponised it against these people and made it impossible for them to defend themselves. When you look at the civil disorder charge, they are saying that if January 6 was one big civil disorder, and if you had any type of interaction with a police officer that day that may or may not have caused the police officer to step away from his duties for a moment, you can go down with civil disorder and get five years in jail.”

  Ryan Nichols, a Marine Corps veteran, is living under house arrest in Texas after nearly two years in pretrial detention, much of it in solitary confinement, in Washington, D.C and Virginia jails. He faces five felony and three misdemeanor charges. Prosecutors say Nichols assaulted officers and obstructed an official proceeding. He has been ordered to “stay away from Washington, D.C.” except for business related to his case, according to court documents. He has had to submit to “location monitoring technology” and is denied access to the internet and his phone except to perform functions related to his case. He cannot have contact with anyone involved in the Jan. 6 events, including co-defendants. Nichols must remain in his home 24 hours a day except for medical and court appointments. He is permitted to attend Sunday church services at Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, Texas. He is facing 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to go to trial on March 27.

  I spoke with Bonnie Nichols, Ryan’s wife, by phone from their home in Longview, Texas. 

  Ryan was arrested on Jan. 18, 2020. The FBI surrounded their house at 5:30 am in armored vehicles. They unscrewed the bulbs from flood lights and cut the wires to the couple’s security cameras before kicking in the front door. The couple and their two children, then aged 4 and 6, were at Bonnie’s parents house during the raid. The FBI confiscated their weapons, electronics and documents, including Social Security cards. 

  “We wanted to cooperate,” she said. “We didn’t know anything was wrong. They asked Ryan to come in for questioning. Ryan went and turned himself in. They arrested him and I didn’t see him again for over a year and a half.”

  Ryan, who had no criminal record, ran a nonprofit called Rescue the Universe where he carried out search-and-rescue operations after natural disasters. He was denied bail. He was sent to a holding facility in Grady County Oklahoma for two months before being flown to Washington, D.C. where he was met by some two dozen U.S. Marshals. His feet were shackled. His arms were shackled to a chain around his waist. He was placed in long term solitary confinement and denied video calls or visitation from his family, including his children. He was denied access to his trial documents for nearly a year and prohibited from attending religious services in the jail.

  Ryan, whose most serious offense appears to be incendiary rhetoric calling for a “second American revolution,” spent nearly 22 months in solitary confinement. Depressed, struggling to cope with the physical and psychological strain of prolonged isolation, he was eventually placed on suicide watch. He was strapped to a bench in a room where a light was never turned off. Guards would periodically shout through a window “Do you feel like killing yourself?” Those on suicide watch who said  “yes” remained strapped to the bench. Those who said “no” were sent back to their cells. Ryan was often prohibited from having nail clippers — the guards told him he could chew his toenails down — or getting a haircut unless he agreed to be vaccinated for COVID-19. When Ryan appeared before Judge Thomas Hogan, who finally released him on Nov. 23, 2022, he told Ryan, with his long unkempt hair and fingernails, that he looked like Tom Hanks in the film Cast Away.

  Every night, for the two years Ryan was held in solitary confinement, Bonnie and her two small boys would say prayers that Ryan would one day come home. She said she and her family have received numerous death threats.

  “Ryan deals with insomnia,” Bonnie said of her husband. “He deals with extreme anxiety, depression and paranoia. He will not even go outside of his backyard because he’s scared that if he goes outside, that they’re going to take him back to jail. He has liver issues from the food that he ate because they fed him baloney sandwiches and trash while he was in D.C. He’s having a lot of medical issues. He also has lower testosterone than a 60-year-old man because he wasn’t able to have any sunlight. His vitamin D levels are low. The list goes on and on. This man does not sleep at night. He has nightmares. He whimpers at night in his sleep because he has dreams that he’s back in D.C. I mean, he’s a mess. This is the result of what has happened to him. He has vision loss. He doesn’t see as good as he used to.”

  Ryan’s family, like many families of those charged, are struggling financially. Bonnie said their savings are gone. She and Ryan are heavily in debt. She has set up a fundraising page here.

  “We are God-loving patriots,” she said. “Who’s going to be next? It’s not about Republican or Democrat or white or Black, Christian, or Muslim. We are all children of God. We are all U.S. American citizens. We are all entitled to our constitutional rights and freedom of speech. We can all come together and agree on that, right?”

  The cheerleading, or at best indifference, by Democratic Party supporters and much of the left to these show trials will come back to haunt them. We are exacerbating the growing tribalism and political antagonisms that will increasingly express themselves through violence. We are complicit, once again, of using the courts to carry out vendettas. We are corroding democratic institutions. We are hardening the ideology and rage of the far-right. We are turning those being hounded to prison into political prisoners and martyrs. We are moving ever closer towards tyranny.

  The Chris Hedges Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 22:20

• Meteorologists Warn Of Big Snow And Rain Storm For Late Week
  Meteorologists Warn Of Big Snow And Rain Storm For Late Week

  AccuWeather meteorologists warn of a late-week storm that could bring wintry and severe weather to large swaths of the central US. 

  “There is the potential for some states in the northern Plains to be hit with two snowstorms within a week,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Joseph Bauer.

  Bauer said forecasts point to a winter event, with snow expected to begin late Wednesday in the Rockies and to spread into the Upper Midwest through Friday. He said accumulating snow is expected for cities from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Denver to Madison, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis. 

  

  The exact snowfall and tracking of the storm have yet to be determined. The storm will take aim at the Plains and might strengthen as it moves eastward. 

  In the South, warm weather will lead to an all-rain event from Texas to Tennessee. 

  “Repeated rounds of rain from mid-to-late week could bring several inches of rain, especially from the Texas-Oklahoma border to Tennessee and Kentucky,” said Bauer.

  Meteorologists have yet to determine East Coast impacts from the storm. Though average temperatures across the Lower 48 will trend below 30-year seasonal averages through mid-March. 

  

  Punxsutawney Phil was right one month ago when he saw his shadow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, which translated into a forecast of six more weeks of winter. The good news is that seasonal averages are trending higher as spring is just weeks away. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 22:00

• Judge Rules USA Powerlifting Must Allow Biological Male To Compete Against Women
  Judge Rules USA Powerlifting Must Allow Biological Male To Compete Against Women

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A Minnesota judge has ruled that biological men who identify as women can compete against natural-born women in USA Powerlifting (USAPL) following a discrimination case against the organization.

  

  In his ruling (pdf), District Judge Patrick Diamond said that the national powerlifting organization must “cease and desist from all unfair discriminatory practices” after finding that it had engaged in unfair discriminatory practices by denying transgender weightlifter JayCee Cooper “the full and equal enjoyment of public accommodation because of sexual orientation.”

  Cooper, who was born a male, filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in 2019 alleging that the organization had violated the state’s Human Rights Act after Cooper was banned from competing in the women’s division.

  Cooper then filed a lawsuit against USA Powerlifting in state court in 2021 alleging claims of sex and sexual orientation discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) against USAPL and Powerlifting Minnesota.

  The lawsuit, which was filed through the Minnesota-based advocacy group Gender Justice, also alleged that Powerlifting Minnesota had aided and abetted sex and sexual orientation discrimination under the MHRA.

  Cooper Was ‘Separated, Segregated’

  Lawyers for the weightlifter said in the lawsuit (pdf) that Cooper began powerlifting in 2018 and “fell in love with the sport.”

  “Ms. Cooper sees powerlifting as a way to find strength within herself and has found a home in the community of strong supportive women who come together around a shared love of sport,” the lawyers wrote.

  It goes on to note that Cooper had been training to compete in the USAPL Minnesota State Bench Press Championship and the Minnesota Women’s State Championship in January and February 2019, respectively, but in December 2018, USAPL sent an email to the weightlifter, stating that Cooper could not compete because of Cooper’s transgender identity.

  “USAPL then revoked her competition card, which means that she was not eligible to compete in future USAPL events,” the lawsuit states, referring to Cooper. “USAPL MN then went on to hold both championship events, at which all transgender women athletes were prohibited from competing.”

  Diamond ultimately agreed with Cooper’s attorneys.

  “By denying Cooper the right to participate in the female category, the category consistent with her self-identification, USAPL denied her the full and equal enjoyment of the services, support, and facilities USAPL offered its members,” Diamond wrote in his ruling. “It separated Cooper and segregated her and, in doing so, failed to fully perform the contractual obligations it agreed to when it accepted Cooper’s money and issued Cooper a membership card.”

  The judge also noted in his 46-page ruling that “the harm is in making a person pretend to be something different, the implicit message being that who they are is less than.”

  “That is the very essence of separation and segregation, and it is what the MHRA prohibits,” the judge wrote. He also cited the “increased risk of depression and suicide, lack of access to coaching and practice facilities, or other performance suppression common to transgender persons,” as competitive disadvantages for transgender competitors.

  USA Powerlifting Must Revise Policy

  USAPL had argued that allowing male-to-female transgender athletes to compete against women was against company policy and that Cooper would have a competitive advantage over natural-born women.

  In 2021, USAPL established an MX category, which is open to cisgender men and women as well as transgender men and women.

  Judge Diamond ordered that USAPL submit a revised policy to remedy three specific areas of discrimination within 14 days and to comply with the revised policy thereafter.

  A trial on possible damages has been set for May 1.

  In a statement to Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE-TV after the ruling, Cooper called the decision a “win.”

  “After years of experiencing discrimination from USA Powerlifting, and the backlash that has occurred due to that, of course I have complex feelings about the sport,” Cooper said. “But I think that this win – [it] is a representation of where we can move forward.”

  ‘We Respectfully Disagree’

  Separately, USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile told the KARE-TV it is considering appealing the decision.

  “Our position has been aimed at balancing the needs of cis- and transgender women, whose capacities differ significantly in purely strength sports,” Maile said. “We have received a summary judgment decision from the Court finding us liable for discrimination. We respectfully disagree with the Court’s conclusions. We are considering all of our options, including appeal.”

  The Epoch Times has contacted USA Powerlifting for comment.

  The latest ruling comes shortly after 22 Republican senators, including Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), reintroduced a bill aimed at protecting female athletes and ensuring fairness and safety in women’s sports at educational institutions across the United States.

  Known as the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” the bill would preserve Title IX protections for female athletes, which ban discrimination on the basis of sex in sports programs and require all educational institutions in the country to reward male and female athletes equally.

  That bill would counteract the Biden administration’s expected plans to finalize rules in May that would force institutions to allow biological males to share women-only spaces and compete in women’s sports.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 21:40

• Man Stranded In Oregon Wilderness Uses Drone To Call For Help
  Man Stranded In Oregon Wilderness Uses Drone To Call For Help

  A sheriff’s office in Oregon reported a man was stranded in Willamette National Forest due to heavy snowfall. He was stuck on a stretch of roadway with no cellphone service and decided to use his drone to call for help. 

  In a Facebook post, the Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue detailed the man attached his smartphone to a drone. He typed out a message to a friend. When he hit send, he launched the drone hundreds of feet into the air. After several tries, the phone connected to a nearby cell tower, and the message was sent. 

  “The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation,” the search and rescue team wrote.

  

  Here’s more on the out-of-the-box, or rather over-the-box, thinking that saved this man’s life. 

  Recently Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue responded to an all-too-familiar mission, but with a unique twist.

  A motorist had attempted to traverse a remote road in the U.S. Forest Service – Willamette National Forest that is not maintained for winter travel. His vehicle became stuck in the snow and he did not have cell service to call for help (cell reception is very limited in many forested areas of Lane County). Making his situation worse, his family was out of the country and nobody knew where he had gone or to call for help if he didn’t make it home.

  Regardless of the circumstances leading to his situation, once stranded this person made several smart decisions. First, he stayed with his vehicle. Rarely does anyone in Oregon die from exposure waiting in their vehicle to be found and rescued, but we have unfortunately seen many poor outcomes from those who chose to walk away. Second, he used some ingenuity to find a way to call for help. The man had a drone with him and attached his cell phone to the drone. He then typed a text message to a trusted person describing his situation and exact location, hit send, and launched the drone several hundred feet into the air. The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation.

  While our teams were rescuing this person, another motorist who had also been stranded nearby in the snow for multiple days was located and rescued.

  We are happy with the outcome of this call for service, and impressed with the creatively displayed to call for help, but we would like to take this opportunity to ask everyone to help us spread some important winter travel safety messages:

  1) Forest Roads are not maintained for winter travel. Any attempt to travel on unmaintained snow or ice covered roads (no matter how much or little) should only be made with a group of well-equipped vehicles. If one vehicle becomes stuck, the other vehicles can attempt to free the stuck vehicle or can turn around and be used to drive everyone back to safety.

  2) Always tell a responsible person EXACTLY where you are going, and when you expect to be back. Do not deviate from this plan. If a road becomes unpassable, turn around and go back the way you came, do not attempt a detour without first updating your plan with your emergency contact.

  3) Of the dozens of missions we have had this winter involving a vehicle stuck in the snow, nearly all of them were 4×4 vehicles and almost all of the drivers told us “I didn’t think I would get stuck.” Instead of asking yourself whether you think you can get through a section of road, ask yourself “What will happen if I do get stuck?” If you (and the group of other vehicles you are traveling with) are not prepared to deal with any of the possible outcomes from an attempt, turn around and go back the way you came.

  Full story here.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 21:20

• Prepared For The Worst, Survival Shelter Companies Waiting For Collapse Of Society
  Prepared For The Worst, Survival Shelter Companies Waiting For Collapse Of Society

  Authored by Allen Stein via The Epoch Times,

  Set against a rocky slope, Fortitude Ranch resembles almost any other desert grange scattered along the barren highway in northwestern Nevada, far from any city or town.

  On this 174-acre privately owned spread are free-roaming cattle, pens for raising sheep and chickens, a main house, and other living quarters under construction.

  The ranch has good soil for growing crops, fruit-bearing trees, natural springs for gardening and livestock, and austere, rolling mountains on either side of the highway for cover.

  Here, the resemblance ends.

  

  The new Viking Lodge survival shelter is a work in progress at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  Fortitude Ranch is anything but your typical farmstead. Its founder, Drew Miller, said its purpose is to ensure the safety of its inhabitants during a societal disintegration.

  “Our design is to survive any collapse,” Miller said.

  “We define a collapse as no functioning economy and widespread loss of law and order.”

  It could take any form: a bird flu pandemic with heavy casualties, an economic depression, a world war, or global famine resulting in civil unrest and death.

  A Question of Survival

  During such a scenario, Miller said, “some people will just stay at home and starve to death.”

  Others won’t go quietly into the twilight of civilization.

  “A lot of people will say, ‘You know what? I will go out and steal food from my neighbor and do what I can to keep my family alive.”

  

  A view of the desert scape from the windows of survival housing under construction at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  Miller said this group poses a significant risk to the prepared.

  Today, only some people feel the urgency to stock up against these terrifying scenarios or even think about them, said Miller, who started building survival ranches in 2012 as the need became more apparent.

  Back then, the notion of preparing for a collapse of civil society still carried the stigma of tin foil hats and conspiracy theories.

  The television series “Doomsday Preppers” further tarnished the image of “preppers” for years.

  Miller, a former U.S. Air Force colonel, said a decade ago, people either smirked or turned away whenever he mentioned prepping.

  That was then.

  After the COVID-19 lockdowns and urban riots of 2020, the power substation attacks of 2022, the possibility of looming war with Russia—and China—and toxic chemical spills in 2023, hardly anyone is smirking now.

  “People get it now. There’s much more recognition that you need to prepare for the fragile electric grid. For the avian flu contagion—and bad people,” Miller said.

  

  Jason, a carpenter at Fortitude Ranch Nevada, works on a section of a new section of survival shelters on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  “We tell our members there’s a chance a collapse could be something they haven’t even considered.”

  The company lists 50 known triggers for a societal collapse on its website, taking each one seriously as its likelihood increases with each passing year.

  Miller said the probability of an unexpected “black swan” event occurring this year is anywhere from 1 and 21 percent based on current trends and models.

  Network of Like-Minded Survivors

  The purpose of Fortitude Ranch is to meet the challenge through a network of survival communities with close to 500 members across the United States.

  Miller sees it as a work in progress with five discreet corporate locations and a sixth survival ranch franchise.

  He envisions as many as 100 nationwide franchises to keep pace with the demand.

  From a survival standpoint, Fortitude Ranch is less costly than going alone, Miller said, because “you’ve got a survival community to share the cost.”

  “We’ve got the staff. We’ve got the facilities. When our members show up in a collapse, all they have to do is follow directions.”

  However, Fortitude Ranch is not geared toward the well-to-do. Its target membership is the middle class.

  

  Ranch manager Brandon M stands in front of the new survival shelter lodge at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  While yearly dues are low (about $1,000 per person), amenities are substantial and guaranteed to ride out the collapse in comfort and safety, Miller said.

  “We are affordable because of large numbers of members and economies of scale. Fortitude Ranch is attractive to join because it is a recreation/vacation facility as well,” according to the company’s website.

  Each ranch setup has a basic fortified shelter design that varies by location.

  There are log-cabin-style living quarters and below-ground configurations made with corrugated steel, including shared spaces, quarantine buildings, recreational areas, and guard posts.

  The simplicity of each location’s design is the key to its efficiency, Miller said.

  “That’s why we formed Fortitude Ranch. Our system is for the middle class. We have plywood bunk beds in some of the rooms. It’s not fancy. We’ve got some nice digs, but many of our rooms are called Spartan rooms.”

  “We don’t give out our locations because it upsets our members,” Miller told The Epoch Times, but “if you’re alive in a collapse, they will find you. You cannot hide. You’ve got to be able to protect yourself.”

  

  Buckets of long-term survival food are stacked against the basement wall at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  The rule is safety in numbers and armed security around the clock. When it’s time to “bug out,” members will arrive with extra food, guns, and ammunition.

  “Hopefully before the collapse occurs—if the collapse occurs—we tell them don’t wait for a warning,” Miller said. “If you can’t contact us—that’s a good clue.”

  At Fortitude Ranch in Nevada, Brandon M said the facility has everything an individual or family would need to survive following a general collapse.

  “We’ve got over a year’s worth of food for more members than we have,” Brandon said. “That gives us time to have our agriculture and crops in place. We’ve also got our livestock.”

  The ranch, built in 2020, is operational with solar and gas-powered generators for off-grid living. Brandon is the full-time manager, and Heather is his new assistant. Jason is a carpenter, helping construct the new Viking Lodge overlooking the ranch.

  “I’ve been to some of the ranches. [Fortitude Ranch Nevada] is probably my favorite from a strategic standpoint,” Brandon said. “You have a lot of high points, but you don’t have a lot of trees, which can be a disadvantage as far as not having wood. The advantage is to see who’s coming at you.”

  

  Ranch manager Brandon M stands in the middle of a new room under construction at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  Brandon, now retired from the military, said the political climate in America has become more unstable and divided.

  “I was looking to find a place with like-minded [people]. I realized I couldn’t do it alone,” he said.

  After a decade serving in the Air Force, Heather said she found Fortitude Ranch online and applied for a job. She’s been out here for about three weeks and has enjoyed her experience.

  “I like this because it’s more realistic. I don’t know if you even think about luxuries—water, food, and shelter. Those are the priorities. I think everybody should be concerned [about a societal collapse]. Not like fear—just aware,” Heather said.

  The new Viking Lodge features a pair of log cabins joined with a corrugated steel enclosure to provide even more living space when complete. The ranch also has a small medical clinic, a workshop, and a practice firing range.

  “We’re still building. We’re always building as we keep adding members,” Brandon told The Epoch Times. “Once we finish the Viking Lodge, we could easily have 200 [people].”

  “Like right now, I’m working on rooms for paid members. It was just me out here for a long time, so it was slow. I don’t mind it; I like the isolation. You can’t just run to the store and grab some cough medicine.”

  

  Fortitude Ranch Nevada manager Brandon M demonstrates a ham radio on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  Brandon said Fortitude Ranch offers good protection against thieves and roaming bands of marauders. Given its remote location, finding the ranch wouldn’t be easy for the hungry and desperate following a collapse in the city.

  “Being this far out here, nobody will want to waste calories walking and not even knowing what you’ll find,” Brandon said. “North of us, there isn’t anything for 30 miles.”

  The ranch currently has more than 50 members, and everyone will have a job to do when they arrive, as determined by their skill set.

  Brandon said two members are medical professionals. There are engineers and teachers as well.

  One member is a culinary chef. The oldest member is 90.

  “We’ve got big families, small families, individuals—all kinds of political backgrounds. Right and left. You’d think it would be all right [leaning]. We do have some [left-leaning] people. We’re getting more and more,” Brandon said.

  “It’s like any other community. When civilization started, people had to come together in some way. It comes down to this: are the things that unite you stronger than those that divide you?

  

  The medical clinic is fully stocked at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  

  The medical clinic at Fortitude Ranch Nevada includes a single bed on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  The nearest town is about a half-hour drive south. Brandon said some people suspected a nearby survival community whenever he shops for supplies. They’ll spot him at the supermarket, loading 20 bags of beans and 20 bags of rice into a cart.

  Sometimes, they’ll ask him questions.

  “I’ll make a joke. I don’t talk about what we are or where we are. They think you’re from a restaurant,” Brandon said.

  Rebuilding Society

  In the main house at Fortitude Ranch are furnished rooms with beds, fresh linen, and other amenities. The ranch guarantees a daily minimum of 2,000 calories for one year for each member.

  However, some members prefer to stock their own food for long-term storage.

  Brandon said members are serious about their preparations as national and global tensions worsen.

  “A lot of them will come out here and store stuff. They’re constantly asking me how we are doing, where are we at.”

  

  Fortitude Ranch Nevada manager Brandon M enters the work shed where gardening supplies are kept on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  Members receive a monthly online newsletter to stay informed. So when the critical moment arrives, they will know what to do.

  “It’s just about bringing communities back to what they once were,” Jason told The Epoch Times. “We’re trying to get people to work together in an environment to sustain themselves from anything.

  “The template was there back in the day. It’s a winning model that works for everybody.”

  Believing “history repeats itself” and collapse is inevitable, Jason said the sooner members work as a community, the sooner they can help to rebuild society.

  “We’ve seen this before, and we’ll see it again. The probability of biological attacks is the norm right now,” Jason said.

  Brandon said the collapse of society would look different than what people expect or imagine.

  “You saw the rioting with [Hurricane] Katrina. This time will be on a much bigger scale.”

  

  A barren lake bed stretches for miles on the way to Fortitude Ranch Nevada. Below, manager Brandon M walks along the dirt road to the main ranch house on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  “It’s going to suck,” Brandon said, as people long to go back to life before the collapse.

  “When we get knocked back into the Stone Age, you’re going to have a lot of unhappy people,” he said.

  Jason added, “People will get caught where they don’t want to be. That’s the beauty of being a member [of Fortitude Ranch].”

  Living Large Post-Apocalypse

  Located in central Kansas, Survival Condos is a former missile silo turned into a luxury survival shelter on the higher end of the affordability spectrum.

  Developer Larry Hall considers the project life-affirming in a world gone further off the deep end.

  “For me, I took an intercontinental ballistic missile site that used to have a weapon of mass destruction designed to kill hundreds of thousands of people. I turned it into the complete opposite,” Hall said.

  “It’s now a green facility, state-of-art technology that protects families.”

  

  Fortitude Ranch Nevada is located in a remote northwestern part of the state, far from any city or town on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  He admits the condos are expensive. A 3,600-square-foot Penthouse unit starts at $4.5 million. A full-floor unit measuring 1,840 square feet costs $3 million, and a half-floor condo runs about $1.5 million.

  “People buy what they can afford and what they perceive they need protection from,” Hall told The Epoch Times.

  “I decided there was a missing niche market in the luxury high-end bunker where people didn’t know how long they’d need a bunker.”

  Hall said before COVID-19, people used to scoff at survival shelters as a fringe market demographic.

  The question was always, “What are the chances of society collapsing?”

  Then came the lockdowns, the urban riots, and the general chaos in 2020.

  Hall said the events of the past three years have only vindicated the preparedness mindset. Survival Condo is now considered the “Gold Standard” for survival shelters.

  

  Raising sheep is one of the main activities at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  “I never get asked that question [will society collapse] anymore,” Hall said. “You’ve pretty much become mainstream. People realize the value of having a hardened property to go to and that extra degree of safety.”

  He said Survival Condo’s purpose is to make sure that clients will survive the collapse and thrive in the process.

  To that end, Survival Condo hired a psychologist to aid in the project design for extended off-grid living. The psychologist looked at basic human physical and emotional needs—from the need for optimum lighting and color schemes to foster a positive mood, better food quality to improve personal satisfaction, and recreational activities to keep tenants happy and fit.

  “The single thing you need to have to keep people from going stir crazy—what people call cabin fever—is to have a good quality of food,” Hall said.

  The original complex held 72 silos. Hall bought two silos with options to purchase another four, built out the first silo, and is working on completing the second.

  

  An aerial view of the dome as it is built over the existing missile silo at Survival Condo in central Kansas. (Courtesy of Survival Condo)

  The finished silo is 15 stories tall and built with a military-grade redundant air filtration system to handle nuclear, chemical, and biological attacks. The facility has redundant power sources and more than 20,000 square feet of floor space under the dome.

  Each fully furnished condo unit has a biometric key entry. Other high-end amenities include a custom theater, bar and lounge, a library, indoor swimming pool and spa, workout facility, command and control center, hydroponic gardens, a medical first-aid clinic, a digital weather station, and homeschooling classrooms.

  Hall said there’s a long waiting list for units when they become available.

  “Ours is way up at the top for a reason—military-grade everything with high engineering,” Hall said. “The book has done everything with very tough standards.”

  “We’re constantly keeping the place in a state of readiness. We could scale it up if we needed to be here for an extended time.”

  

  The interior floor plan for Survival Condo, a former intercontinental ballistic missile silo turned condominium in central Kansas. (Courtesy of Survival Condo)

  That time now appears close as the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists stands 90 seconds away from midnight.

  Whether a natural or man-made disaster is on the horizon—”pick a poison,” Hall said. “All result in one common denominator, and that’s civil unrest.

  “People are afraid and trying to get by and survive. So, ultimately, you need something where you can sleep with both eyes closed and don’t have to worry about a gang of MS-13 guys kicking in your door.”

  “The whole thing is you have a place designed to protect families,” Hall said. “We’ve got a facility that can do that. We’re not out to muck with anybody. We want to be out of sight and mind, do our best to survive, not burden society, and take care of ourselves.”

  Miller, at Fortitude Ranch, said the demand for survival ranch franchises has been growing exponentially.

  “We’re going like mad now through franchising. We’ll double our number of locations this year. It could take off even more,” Miller said.

  

  A furnished condominium at Survival Condo in central Kansas. (Courtesy of Survival Condo)

  But even with 100 new franchise locations, “that’s still a tiny percentage of the population,” he said. “We’re not even close to handling 1 percent of the population.”

  Miller said people owe it to themselves and the future to survive the coming collapse as the opportunities to rebuild will be “phenomenal.”

  “I hope the United States will recover and follow the Constitution. We don’t follow it today,” Miller said.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 21:00

• Ferrari Named Top Car Pick Over Tesla At Morgan Stanley
  Ferrari Named Top Car Pick Over Tesla At Morgan Stanley

  Could the automobile love affair at Morgan Stanley be shifting?

  Analyst Adam Jonas, long known for his affection of Tesla and Elon Musk, has penned a note to start this week introducing Ferrari as a top pick by the firm, which has raised its price target on the company to $310 from $280.

  Jonas has an overweight rating on the name and called the company “the most defensive name in his coverage” that avoids much of the “EV hype and EV risk”, according to a Monday morning Bloomberg wrap-up.

  “We believe RACE is the best positioned company in our coverage in a highly uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical tape. In addition to its strong fundamentals, we believe RACE has levers to pull for both growth or downside protection, within a wide dispersion of macro outcomes,” Jonas and peers wrote in their note.

  “Ferrari has built its moat on scarcity, desirability, and brand values around performance (“driving thrills”) and luxury which is the key driver for continued demand. These factors make it hard for a competitor to replicate the Ferrari model overnight. In our view, buying a Ferrari today is not so much about ‘the sound of the engine’ or the ‘performance’ in and of itself,” it continues.

  “Rather, we think it is a totality of factors that drive customers to want the elements that a Ferrari possesses: scarcity, desirability, connotations of luxury and performance (stemming from Formula 1 racing pedigree),and exquisite Italian design and engineering. The brand and scarcity drive unprecedented demand for the vehicles, which Ferrari is able to leverage with tight supply control.”

  

  Jonas also likes that Ferrari has the longest order backlog, greatest earnings visibility and highest pricing power of any of the companies he covers, the Bloomberg note also said. 

  Long-term opportunities, a predictable business model and a “near unmatched brand and market moat” were cited as additional factors for the believe in Ferrari. 

  Jonas wrote: “We believe investors over-estimate the risk of EVs to Ferrari and misprice the inherent opportunity in EVs coupled with continuing the ICE business on an exclusive basis with price points for ICE approaching $1mn/unit.” 

  “The key concern we field from investors on RACE is the shift to EVs. Although the shift away from the ICE engine which has been at the heart of RACE’s brand since inception presents a profound shift in Ferrari’s powertrain technology, it need not threaten the company’s DNA. We believe the engine is only part of the reason why Ferrari has been able to create one the strongest brands in the world,” it reads. 

  The firm also didn’t seem to see risks of Ferrari shifting their model to EV from traditional ICE, concluding that Ferrari “can offer an EV that will be just as high in demand as what investors are used to from ICE.”

  Broadly, however, Jonas is getting more cautious about the sector in general, citing the “rebound in equity prices and continuing signs of unaffordability and auto credit pressure”. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 20:40

• SPLC Attorney Among 23 ANTIFA Rioters Arrested On Domestic Terrorism Charges
  SPLC Attorney Among 23 ANTIFA Rioters Arrested On Domestic Terrorism Charges

  Submitted by Blue Apples

  Since late January when a fatal shooting between Atlanta-area police and ANTIFA-affiliated broke out, Georgia’s capital has become ground zero of the continually fomenting hostilities from the radical leftist group. The tenuous situation saw that violence continue at the site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Under the pretense of a “mostly peaceful protest,” rioters unleashed their fury by destroying construction equipment at the site of where Georgia State Patrol Troopers had exchanged gunfire with protesters occupying the site in late January. The latest ANTIFA insurgency resulted in the arrest of 23 people on domestic terrorism charges.

  One arrest in particular sticks out. Thomas Webb Jurgens was one of the 23 arrested on Sunday according to DeKalb County arrest records. Jurgens arrest is notable because he is a staff attorney at the Decatur, Georgia office of the Southern Povery Law Center. Ironically, the SPLC have cultivated a partnership with state and federal law enforcement across the United States to designate and investigate extremists groups like those engaged in domestic terrorism across the country. Now, they are in a position where it’s difficult to unequivocally deny the criticism levied against them that their own members qualify to be designated among those ranks.

  One of the Antifa members arrested on domestic terrorism charges in Atlanta last night is a staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

  The FBI has historically used the SPLC as a source for who should be considered domestic terrorists. pic.twitter.com/y5isk5AHaq

  — Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 6, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  According to Jurgens’ LinkedIn page, he joined the SPLC in September 2021 as a new hire to its Economic Justice Project. He presently is admitted to both the Georgia and Florida state bar associations. Jurgens had graduated with his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, the campus of which is located in Athens, Georgia. The campus is just 60 miles from Atlanta where he was arrested.

  

  The Atlanta Police department detailed how the events leading to Jurgens arrest unfolded. Those arrested initially convened under the cover of gathering for a protest before events turned violent. “They changed into black clothing and entered the construction area and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers.” according to Atlanta police who responded to the scene of the crimes. Footage released by the police department shows approximately 150 masked rioters breaking into the construction site. 35 were detained in total, with 23 already being charged and the potential charges looming for the remaining 12.

  CONSTRUCTION SITE BURNS: Huge plumes of smoke and massive police response after @defendATLforest / #StopCopCity protesters face off with police at the site of Atlanta’s future Public Safety Training Facility. I’m told Molotov cocktails were thrown. Construction equipment is on… https://t.co/6dIyrPff6T pic.twitter.com/0F9qj8dgFn

  — Billy Heath III (@BillyHeathFOX5) March 5, 2023

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  Fortunately, unlike the police engagement in January, the events from Sunday evening went without any serious injuries or fatalities. No indication that any of the arrested ANTIFA supporters were armed with a firearm has arisen yet either. Despite that outcomes, Atlanta police aren’t viewing that good fortune as an auspice of what lies ahead. Officials cataloged Sunday night’s arrests as a catalyst for reactionary violence in the coming days. Police department officials forewarned “with protests planned for the coming days, the Atlanta Police Department, in collaboration with law enforcement partners, have a multi-layered strategy that includes reaction and arrest.”

  Following violence during the “Night of Rage” ANTIFA organized in response to January’s shooting, Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp issued a response indicating that state prosecutors would execute a new strategy to prosecuted rioters under domestic terrorism charges. Kemp’s Attorney General, Chris Carr announced his office’s intention to continue to pursue sweeping indictments against ANTIFA members for domestic terrorism continuing to riot. Carr also took the media to task for categorizing ANTIFA members as protesters. The arrest of 23 more ANTIFA rioters, including the SPLC’s Thomas Jurgens, conveys the commitment to a concerted effort between Georgia’s law enforcement and attorney general’s office to prosecute rioters to the furthest extent of the law.

  The SPLC could not be reached for comment and has released no official statement regarding Jurgens’ arrest. In addition to domestic terrorism charges, Jurgens faces potential discipline from the bar associations he is admitted to in Georgia and Florida which could result in the loss of his license to practice law. The revelation of his arrest should also be cause for law enforcement officials around the country to reassess their working relationship with the SPLC. If Jurgens’ arrest says anything about the non-profit, it’s that their offices are a place where hate groups are apparently being cultivated instead of persecuted.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 20:20

• Russia Successfully Dodging Sanctions To Secure Semiconductors For Military Tech
  Russia Successfully Dodging Sanctions To Secure Semiconductors For Military Tech

  One astute geopolitical blog has issued a report exploring the many ways which sanctions on Russia have come back to bite their issuers. The same author had also clearly one year ago predicted precisely the scenario unfolding now.

  Over the weekend, Bloomberg explored another key area where President Putin has been given a lifeline via third party countries such as Turkey, China the UAE, Kazakhstan and Serbia when it comes to semiconductors which are vital to military tech and other industries.

  

  Bloomberg writes that “Russia looks to be successfully working around European Union and Group of Seven sanctions to secure crucial semiconductors and other technologies for its war in Ukraine, according to a senior European diplomat.”

  Citing the source, the report continues: “Russian imports in general have largely returned to their pre-war 2020 levels and analysis of trade data suggests that advanced chips and integrated circuits made in the EU and other allied nations are being shipped to Russia through third countries such as Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, the diplomat said, pointing to those private assessments.”

  This despite sweeping EU sanctions and restrictions impacting hundreds of items, including crucial technologies, meant to cripple the Russian economy and its the defense sector in particular.

  Russia’s sources of imported chips before the war and before sanctions (2017-July 2021)…

  

  As for China, Bloomberg observes: 

  Shipments from China to Russia have also surged as Beijing plays an increasingly important role in supplying Moscow, the diplomat added, asking not to be named discussing sensitive information. Those countries outside the EU haven’t sanctioned Russia themselves, but most have repeatedly denied they are helping the Kremlin.

  Russian does actually produce domestic semiconductors; however, it’s long been known that government agencies and large private companies often refuse to use them due to their low quality and the manufacturer’s inability to keep pace with technological demands.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 20:00

• Victor Davis Hanson: Life Among The Ruins
  Victor Davis Hanson: Life Among The Ruins

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via AmGreatness.com,

  American society is facing three existential crises not unlike those that overcame the late Roman, and a millennium later, terminal Byzantine, empires.

  

  Premodern Barbarism

  We are suffering an epidemic of premodern barbarism. The signs unfortunately appear everywhere. Over half a million homeless people crowd our big-city downtowns.

  Most know the result of such Medieval street living is unhealthy, violent, and lethal for all concerned. Yet no one knows—or even seems to worry about—how to stop it.

  So public defecation, urination, fornication, and injection continue unabated. Progressive urban pedestrians pass by holding their noses, averting their gazes, and accelerating the pace of their walking. The greenest generation in history allows its sidewalks to become pre-civilizational sewers. In a very brief time, we all but have destroyed the downtowns of our major cities—which will increasingly become vacant in a manner like the 6th-century A.D. Roman forum.

  All accept that defunding the police, no-cash bail, Soros-funded district attorneys, and radical changes in jurisprudence have destroyed deterrence. The only dividend is the unleashing of a criminal class to smash-and-grab, carjack, steal, burglarize, execute, and assault—with de facto immunity. Instead we are sometimes lectured that looting is not a crime, but lengthy incarceration is criminally immoral.

  We have redefined felonies as misdemeanors warranting no punishment. Misdemeanors are now infractions that are not criminal. Infractions we treat as lifestyle choices. Normality, not criminality, is deemed criminal. We all know this will not work, but still wonder why it continues.

  Many among the middle classes of our cities who can flee or move, do so—like 5th-century equestrians who left Rome for rural fortified farms before the onslaught of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths. For most of our lives we were lectured that the old southern states—Florida, Tennessee, Texas—were backward and uninviting. Now even liberals often flee to them, leaving behind supposedly cosmopolitan Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and New York. The more people leave the blue states, the more those states praise themselves as utopian.

  The less well-off, without the means to leave, hope that their environs have hit bottom so things can only improve. The elite who caused this premodern catastrophe assumes they will always have the money and wherewithal to ensure that themselves and their own can navigate around or even profit from the barbarism they unleashed. For them the critic, not the target of criticism, is the greater threat.

  The hard urban work of the 1990s and early 2000s—cleaner, safer subways, secure nightlife downtown, clean sidewalks, low vacancy rates, little vagrancy, and litter-free streets—so often has been undone, deliberately so. We are descending to the late 1960s and 1970s wild streets—if we are lucky the mayhem does not devolve even further.

  A mere 10 years ago, if an American learned that a man was arrested for clubbing, robbing, or shooting innocents, and yet would be released from custody that day of his crime, he would have thought it an obscenity. Now he fears that often the criminal will not even be arrested.

  A once secure border no longer exists. Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas simply demolished it and allowed 6-7 million foreign nationals to cross illegally into the United States without audits—to the delight of their apparent constituent, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

  What would shame a Biden or Mayorkas? What would change their minds? Billions of dollars spent on social services for the lawbreaking at the expense of the American poor?

  Would 100,000 annual lethal overdoses—12 times more than those who died over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan combined—from drugs that flow across the open border sway them? Or would it take 200,000, or 300,000 deaths before Joe Biden relented and ceased his chuckling?

  What does a people do when its highest officials simply renounce their oaths of office and refuse to enforce laws they don’t like? Everyone knows the border will eventually have to become secure, but none have any idea whether it will take another 20, 30, or 50 million illegal entrants and 1 million more fentanyl deaths to close it.

  Polls show race relations have hit historic lows. Much of the ecumenicalism of the post-Civil Rights movement seems squandered—almost deliberately so.

  The Left now rarely mentions Martin Luther King, Jr. or even the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. Perhaps it knows it has violated the spirit and legacy of both.

  Today, our identity politics leaders believe that the color of our skin, not the content of our character, certainly matters more. The practitioners of the new tribalism in some sense fear outlawing segregation and discrimination by race. They know to do so would end racially restricted houses and safe spaces, racially exclusive graduations, and race-based admissions, hiring, and promotion on campus.

  Read Professor Ibram X. Kendi and his message is implicit. For him, the problem with a Jim Crow-like system was not segregation or racial chauvinism per se, but merely who was doing the victimizing and who were the victims: so the original racism was bad; but racism in reverse is good.

  We abhor violence, racism, and misogyny—in the abstract. Yet the entire hip-hop industry would find no audience—or so we are told by its appeasers—if rappers refrained from “ho” misogyny, brags of violence against law enforcement, and self-described proprietary use of the N-word.

  Most know that young black males under 30 commit violent crimes at well over 10 times their 3-4 percent demographic of the population—so often victimizing the nonwhite. All know that reality must remain unmentionable even as its causes need to be debated and discussed if lives are to be saved. Yet the greater crime seems not the crime itself, but even mentioning crime.

  Postmodern Abyss

  Postmodernism in our age is deadlier even than premodernism. Sexually explicit drag shows that allow the attendance of children 20 years ago would have been outlawed—by liberals worried over the trauma of the young watching performance-art simulated sex.

  Now the children come last and the performers first—as ratified by the same liberals. But to fathom the new transitioning, simply learn from ancient transitioning and gender dysphoria, an unhappy classical theme from Catullus’ Attis poem (stimulatus ibi furenti rabie, vagus/ devolsit ili acuto sibi pondera silice/ itaque ut relicta sensit sibi membra sine viro) to Giton in Petronius’ Satyricon.

  Current “science” is now synonymous with ideology, religion, or superstition. Lockdowns, mRNA vaccinations, masking, transgenderism, “climate change,” and green power brook no dissent. They are declared scientifically correct in the manner that the sun used to revolve around the earth, and any dissenting Galileo or Copernicus is cancel-cultured, doxxed, and deplatformed.

  It is now verboten to cite the causes of the current upswing. We must remain silent about the classical exegeses that cults, pornography, and constructed sexual identities, when not biological, were the manifestations of a bored culture’s affluence (luxus), leisure (otium), and decadence (licentia/dissolutio).

  The classical analyses of an elite collapse focus on a falling birth rate, a scarce labor force, ubiquitous abortion, an undermanned military, and a shrinking population. We suffer all that and perhaps more still.

  Millions of young men are detached and ensconced in solitude, their indebted 20s too often consumed with video-gaming, internet surfing, or consumption of porn. Many  suffer from prolonged adolescence. Many assume that they are immune from criticism, given that the alternative of getting married, having children, finding a full-time job, and buying a house is society’s new abnormal.

  Rarely has an elite society become so Victorian and yet so raunchy. A slip with an anachronistic “Gal” or “Honey” can get one fired. Meanwhile, grabbing one’s genitals while pregnant on stage before 120 million viewers is considered a successful Super Bowl extravaganza.

  Our army is short of its annual recruitment by 25 percent. We all suspect but do not say out loud the cause. The stereotyping of poor and middle-class white males as both raging and biased, and yet expected yet to fight and die in misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq, has finally convinced the parents of these 18-year-olds to say, “no more.”

  Need we say anything about the lack of efficacy or morality of the Department of Justice, FBI, or CIA?

  Or rather is there anything the FBI will not do?

  Doctor court evidence? Hire Twitter to suppress the news? Monitor parents at school board meetings? Allow directors to lie under oath or “misremember” before Congress?

  Swiping clean subpoenaed phones? Hiring fakers to compile dirt on a presidential candidate—and then using that known smear to hoodwink a judge to allow spying on Americans?

  Suppressing evidence on a laptop to warp an election? Raiding an ex-president’s home with a SWAT-like team? Spying on Catholics in mass? Storming a home full of children of a man accused of a politically incorrect misdemeanor?

  The more the military has been stalemated in Iraq, humiliated in Afghanistan, and dreading what China will soon do or what Iran will even sooner let off, the more it insists our priorities should be diversity, equity, and inclusion. Will that escapism ensure more lethal pilots, tank commanders, and Marine company commanders?

  The mindsets of too many of our new generations of command are twofold: first to be promoted by virtue signaling woke policies that they must know eventually will hamper combat readiness, and then in the future to rotate at retirement into multimillionaire status by leveraging past expertise for defense contractors. Keep that in mind and almost every publicly uttered nonsense from our highest in the Pentagon makes perfect sense.

  Them

  There is a third challenge. Our enemies—illiberal, deadly, and vengeful—have concluded we are more effective critics of ourselves than are they. They enjoy our divided nation, torn apart by racial incivility, dysfunctional cities, and woke madness. (Notice how even the communists long ago dropped deadly Maoist wokeism, or how the Russians viewed the Soviet commissariat as antithetical to their military and economic agendas.)

  Iran believes that this present generation of Americans would likely allow it to nuke Israel rather than stop its proliferation. China assumes that Taiwan is theirs and the only rub is how to destroy or absorb it without losing too many global markets and income. Russia  conjectures that the more we trumpet its impending defeat, the more it will destroy Eastern Ukraine and call such a desert peace.

  Our “friends” can be as dangerous as our enemies.

  A visitor from another world might conclude Mexico has done more damage to America than North Korea, Iran, and Russia combined. It has, by intent, flooded our border with 20 million illegal aliens. It has allowed cartels with Chinese help to conduct multibillion-dollar profiteering by killing 100,000 Americans per year (did the Kremlin ever match that tally in a half century of the Cold War?).

  Mexico drains $60 billion from its expatriates on the expectation that American subsidies will free up their cash to be sent home. The more the cartels run wild, the more money trickles down—while their top drug enforcement official Genaro García Luna was found guilty in a New York courtroom  for collusion with the cartels.

  How did all of this so quickly erode our great country? Our crisis was not the next generation of foreign Hitlers and Stalins. It was not earthquakes, floods, or even pandemics. It was not endemic poverty and want. It was not a meager inheritance from past generations of incompetents. Nor was it a dearth of natural resources or bounty.

  Instead our catastrophe arose from our most highly educated, the wealthiest and most privileged in American history with the greatest sense of self-esteem and sanctimoniousness. Sometime around the millennium, they felt their genius could change human nature and bring an end to history—if only they had enough power to force hoi polloi to follow their abstract and bankrupt theories that they had no intention of abiding by themselves.

  And then the few sowed the wind, and so the many now reap their whirlwind.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 19:40

• Pentagon Sees Chinese 'Spy Cranes' At US Ports As "Trojan Horse"
  Pentagon Sees Chinese ‘Spy Cranes’ At US Ports As “Trojan Horse”

  US officials have voiced concerns that Chinese-manufactured cranes operating at major US ports and various military bases may serve as a “Trojan horse” for Beijing’s intelligence-gathering program, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

  According to national security and Pentagon officials, the ship-to-shore cranes, produced by China’s ZPMC, are equipped with advanced sensors capable of detecting and monitoring shipping containers, raising alarms that Beijing could gather intelligence about the materials being transported to or from the US ports or military bases. 

  

  “Cranes can be the new Huawei,” Bill Evanina, a former top US counterintelligence official, told WSJ. US officials have banned Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from US communication networks on fears of spying. And he said the extent of the spying goes beyond Huawei into other forms, such as cranes. 

  “It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection,” Evanina said. 

  A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Washington said the new panic around cranes is “paranoia-driven” and an attempt to obstruct trade and economic cooperation with China. The person added:

  “Playing the ‘China card’ and floating the ‘China threat’ theory is irresponsible and will harm the interests of the US itself.” 

  The concerns about the alleged ‘spy’ cranes come after a recent dispute between the US and China regarding high-altitude balloons. In response to a recent spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, the Biden administration deployed a stealth fighter that successfully shot down the balloon with a Sidewinder missile. 

   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 19:20

• Illinois Torched Business And Common Sense With Its Biometric Privacy Law
  Illinois Torched Business And Common Sense With Its Biometric Privacy Law

  By Mark Glennon of Wirepoints

  How sadly ironic that White Castle became the latest victim of the Illinois General Assembly’s malfeasance. Its stores are modeled after the Chicago Water Tower, which survived the Chicago Fire and stands as a monument to the spirit of tenacity and resilience that once prevailed to rebuild the city.

  

  Today, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow is the state’s own government. It set off what the law firm Mayer Brown rightly calls a “six-alarm fire for businesses with customers or employees in Illinois.”

  BIPA, the Biometric Information Privacy Act, arises from a legitimate concern, as most laws do. In this case, it’s privacy of personal biometric information such as fingerprints, DNA and distinctive elements of things like face and retina features. Some of that data is used widely in the business world for things like time management, security, wellness programs and worker safety. The law requires informed consent prior to collecting the data, mandates protection and retention guidelines and bans profiting from selling the data.

  That’s fine, but the problem is that the law imposes penalties wildly out of proportion to the seriousness of noncompliance or amount of harm done by a violation.

  It can be a death penalty for violators. And the law allows anybody affected to sue for those fines.

  That’s a firebomb recipe for personal injury lawyers. Nearly 2,000 lawsuits alleging violations of BIPA have been filed since 2017, “yielding a series of massive settlements and judgments,” as Reuters reported. Defendants have included Facebook, which paid $650 million to settle a BIPA class action and BNSF Railway Co, which a jury ordered to pay $228 million to truck drivers. Anybody thinking about suing enjoys a very generous five-year statute of limitations.

  Then came last week’s decision on White Castle from the Illinois Supreme Court, pouring accelerant on the fire.

  Separate BIPA violations occurred every time an employee used White Castle’s system that required its employees to scan their fingerprints to access their pay stubs and computers, the court ruled. And BIPA authorizes statutory damages of $1,000 for “each violation” of the statute, or $5,000 if the violation is intentional or reckless.

  The top court’s decision therefore could mean a $17 billion liability for White Castle since some 9,500 current and past employees had used the system for years, as a dissenting opinion says, citing White Castle’s estimate. The court’s decision “could easily lead to annihilative liability for businesses,” says the dissent.

  That’s what makes the decision terrifying for many other businesses that use biometrics. Every instance of use could mean a penalty of $1,000 or $5,000.

  The decision “leaves the plaintiffs’ bar with an all-you-can-eat biometric café,” wrote the law firm Winston & Strawn in its newsletter.

  A liability that big would destroy White Castle many times over. It’s not that big a company compared to many publicly owned food chains and is privately owned.

  Sorry, said the majority of the court said in their opinion, the plain language of the statute required that result. If this needs to be fixed it’s up to the General Assembly. “Ultimately,” the majority opinion says, “we continue to believe that policy-based concerns about potentially excessive damage awards under the Act are best addressed by the legislature.”

  That’s the real takeaway – the General Assembly should have fixed this long ago. The liabilities being imposed under BIPA have been burning out of control for several years, and the ruling making each instance subject to a penalty has long been feared, having percolated up through the courts for several years. Bills to fix it have languished.

  The dissent argued that only one violation should be recognized for any employee for the first time fingerprints are collected, and that the law must have been intended that way.

  Right or wrong, that’s now water under the bridge. The top court has ruled. Only the General Assembly can fix the statute.

  One next potential victim of BIPA may be the cannabis industry, an increasingly important revenue force for the state, according to lawyers at Dentons U.S. “BIPA damages could be a death knell to cannabis operators,” they wrote, explaining,

  The cannabis industry has placed a strong emphasis on security for grow facilities and dispensaries. These enhanced security measures are a must to protect employees handling largely cash transactions and customers purchasing a heavily regulated product.  But, in taking these reasonable security measures, the cannabis industry has opened itself up to litigation surrounding BIPA’s stringent requirements.

  The majority opinion in White Castle’s case says, “We respectfully suggest that the legislature review these policy concerns and make clear its intent regarding the assessment of damages under the Act.”

  That’s being too nice. Nobody should be “respectfully suggesting” anything to legislature about this. They should have fixed BIPA long ago. Fix it now.

  In the meantime, any business touching Illinoisans in any way that uses biometrics should follow the advice of many lawyers: At least mitigate your exposure by immediately reviewing policies and practices related to biometric information to ensure BIPA compliance, including biometric use for employee timekeeping.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 19:00

• Luongo: The War For The Dollar Is Already Over, Part I
  Luongo: The War For The Dollar Is Already Over, Part I

  Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, ‘n Guns blog,

  And the Fed has won. In the words of Ambassador Kosh from the classic television series Babylon 5, “The avalanche has started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.”

  For nearly the past two years I’ve been a nearly lone voice in the wilderness questioning the financial orthodoxy over the behavior of the Federal Reserve. It started with an innocent, if not openly naïve question back in June of 2021, “Could the Fed actually be getting off the globalist train?”

  When I asked that question it was just days after musing to my Patrons on the eve of the June 16th, 2021 FOMC meeting that the Fed would have to step in and defend the US dollar. The dollar’s weakness during the Trump presidency couldn’t last forever. Even then I didn’t have a good answer as to how they would do it.

  I just knew, intuitively, that they had to.

  Back then there was no indication that the Fed was ready to begin raising rates. But by raising the Reverse Repo payout rate 0.05% above the Fed Funds Rate the Fed started the avalanche of US dollar strength that has persisted through to today.

  And the pebbles screaming, “Pivot!” have been consistently overrun by the reversal of flow of US dollars from overseas back home, now getting extinguished at an unprecedented rate.

  

  It was that extreme response by the market to the RRP rate that led to my asking that question. Nothing more, nothing less.

  The implications of that question were far reaching. It led to a whole series of questions as to the knock-on effects. I wrote about some of these in the days after the Geneva summit where President “Biden” and Vladimir Putin hashed out a ceasefire over Ukraine. In that article I didn’t get everything right, but the main point, that the Fed was no longer willing to go along with the destruction of the private formation of capital, has more than held true.

  Here’s the most important point:

  The Fed is now ready, I think, to go to war with Davos over the future of money and they aren’t ready to hand over the keys to the candy store to a bunch of European commies, at least while also cutting Wall St. out completely of the New World Order…

  …The plan {Davos’} is pretty obvious at this point: hand over the keys to capital formation to the central banks and destroy all risk assessment. Commercial banks aren’t needed.  Only socially acceptable projects going forward will get funded. This is what Christine Lagarde wants with her new all-European Green Stock Exchange she introduced at Ankara last week.

  But what’s clear to me now is that Davos went for the boob too fast on Prom Night at the Eschaton.  It’s too much, too soon and the acceleration is exposing its flanks.  Why would China and the U.S. go to war over COVID-19 and trade issues when they are being manipulated into it by a bunch of feckless Eurocrats with delusions of adequacy?

  It was the possibility that the Fed, who ultimately answers to US commercial banking interests, is pursuing its own agenda that I explored in a recent podcast with Danielle Dimartino Booth, hoping to get her perspective on this widened lens of Fed policy rather than just focusing on inflation. In my opinion, Danielle more than delivered.

  One of the biggest complaints about the Fed’s policies since the 2008 financial crisis has been that it has acted as the Central Bank of the World, rather than the Central Bank of the US. What I find hilarious, honestly, if not a little pathetic, is that the moment the Fed starts acting like a domestic central bank, the wailing and gnashing of teeth comes from all corners.

  I expect that from globalists and vultures who love taking the Fed’s zero-cost dollars and levering them up to feather their own nests to build their own private empires in the shadow banking system. I didn’t expect that from the alternative economics space, however.

  It’s like the Fed had just become everyone’s punching bag and that was that.

  Ok, rant off. Back to the avalanche at hand.

  Think back to 2021, or even the beginning of 2022, and remember that no one could even conceive of where we’d be today – the Fed Funds Rate at 4.75%, likely going to 5% in less than two weeks, and the term structure of dollar futures markets reluctantly admitting to a terminal rate between 5.50% and 5.75%.

  I argued strenuously that in order for FOMC Chair Jerome Powell to make this new sovereign US monetary policy stick, he would have to ‘pull a Volcker’ and raise rates aggressively. This would expose the lies of the “Biden” administration about deflation and the need for trillions more in COVID-19 relief funds — the Build Back Better bill.

  It would uncover who on Capitol Hill was aligned with the Fed and the New York Banks it represents, or, at least, who had their backing — Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D_WV) — and who was actively working against them. — Joe Biden, Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Lael Brainard, the Democratic Party and most of the Republican Party and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

  Even as I was making these arguments I never thought Powell would actually do it.

  Then he did it.

  And here we are today (well, March 3rd’s closing).

  

  When I say markets reluctantly acceded to the Fed’s program I mean that just one month ago these curves were all signaling a Fed “Pivot” at 5% and that it would happen in June. Now the Fed Funds Futures is essentially flat at 5.45% until December.

  But these curves are highlighting for me exactly what I’ve been preaching for the past two years. The Fed, through aggressive rate hikes and fundamental changes to its transmission of monetary policy, has placed the biggest burden on on US dollar markets overseas, not domestically.

  Moreover, every major shift in policy, the statements coming from Powell, and the upcoming changes to US dollar markets themselves have supported this idea.

  All of this was taking place against a gradual change in the foundation of US dollar markets phased in over a five-year period; the shift from LIBOR as the debt-indexing rate in US dollars globally to SOFR.

  As of today there are three major futures markets to coordinate the supply of US dollars through time, the Eurodollar, the Fed Funds, and now SOFR.

  But all of these ultimately were subservient to LIBOR because that’s where the overnight money markets took their cues directly from. The futures markets reacted to the LIBOR call out.

  Remember in January 2022, the penultimate phase of SOFR’s replacement for LIBOR took place. That was when all new US debt had to reference SOFR as the baseline rate, rather than LIBOR. LIBOR was ending in June 30th, 2023.

  Keep that date in mind. Because it looms large over everything currently happening.

  Go back to what I’ve been saying for over a year, the Fed is not raising rates to combat inflation.

  The Fed is raising rates to drain offshore dollar markets and force the offshore dollar trade to take its cues from the domestic cost of dollars as priced by SOFR, not LIBOR.

  If you still haven’t been convinced of this argument, fair cop, but then why is the Eurodollar futures curve, at the first sign of bond markets finally believing the Fed is serious about not “pivoting,” trading significantly above both the Fed Funds and the SOFR futures markets? (see graph of yield curves above).

  The spread being positive (26 basis points positive!) means the demand for US dollars overseas is far greater than the demand for them domestically. That spread is the pain threshold not for the Fed but for, primarily, the ECB and the Bank of England.

  As much as we would like to blame the Fed for everything happening, creating scapegoats are simply a coping mechanism for being unable or unwilling to reconcile what is happening versus what we would like to see happen.

  They are a reflection of our anxiety about that which we can’t control. And you can argue that I’ve done that with my incessant invoking the Davos bogeyman lurking behind the scenes, and, again, fair enough.

  But that’s why we go deeper and ask the questions necessary to map out where everyone’s incentives are and how they would react to specific pressures changes in policy or personnel.

  Bye Bye Eurodollars, Hello SOFR

  Two years ago the idea that SOFR would successfully replace Eurodollars as the global market yield curve for US dollars was laughable. When SOFR was introduced in 2017 it was phased in with a five-year rollout plan, culminating in January 2022’s mandate. SOFR was the indexing rate of the US and that was that.

  In December of 2021 SOFR futures traded around 290,000 contracts per day. By this report by IFR going from numbers from the CME, volume surged to 964,000 contracts.

  Average daily volumes in SOFR futures reached 964,000 contracts in the two weeks ending February 4, according to derivatives exchange CME Group, up from about 290,000 in December and more than five times higher than their September level.

  That was last year, less than a month before Powell began squeezing the Eurodollar markets to death.

  Oh, but wait there’s more from Feb 2022:

  But SOFR futures have also closed the gap this year to Eurodollar futures, the Libor-linked contracts that have long been a mainstay of rates trading markets and that SOFR futures are set to supplant altogether from the middle of 2023. SOFR futures volumes as a share of Eurodollar contracts have reached as high as 37% this month, compared with an average of 10% in the final quarter of 2021.

  “There’s been a significant change in behaviour over the last few months and we’re now seeing exponential growth in SOFR futures activity. Records are being broken almost daily,” said Mark Rogerson, head of interest rate products for EMEA at CME Group.

  “We thought there’d be an acceleration moving into 2022 when the regulatory guidance provided a catalyst. We’re now at a point where we’ve achieved critical mass in SOFR futures: liquidity is more than sufficient for almost all customers’ needs.”

  Still not convinced? Why would you be, a year ago SOFR was doing 37% of the mighty Eurodollar’s business. Then let’s flash forward to February of this year with a press release from the CME itself.

   CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, today announced new milestones in the growth of its SOFR derivatives contracts, with a single-day record of 7,558,467 SOFR futures and options traded and record open interest (OI) of 35,698,298 contracts on January 12…

  …In the first two weeks of January 2023, the average daily volume (ADV) of SOFR futures and options traded reached 4,674,007 contracts. Month-to-date January 2023 SOFR futures ADV is equivalent to 572% of Eurodollar futures ADV and SOFR options ADV is equivalent to 1,334% of Eurodollar options ADV.

  Ooops.

  If this was a prize fight they would have called it on a technical knockout two rounds ago.

  Oh, but wait, they already did. You see, this is why I sandbagged you for this entire article. One, because I’m an asshole and two, because so are the guys running the CME.

  The CME announced back in October that it was suspending trading in its former champion Eurodollar Futures and Options on Futures contracts dated after (wait for it) June 30th, 2023. The last day of trading will be April 14th. For a little more fun you can check out the CME’s daily SOFR Futures report.

  I think that avalanche is now so loud it could be heard from space. Poor pebbles.

  

  SOFR knocked out the Eurodollar because that was the Fed’s and New York’s ultimate goal; to replace the global rate for dollars with a domestic one where the capital would have to trade here.

  The globe takes its cues, not from what Europe or Hong Kong wants, but what America needs.

  This stabilizes our banking system, taking back power the Fed had ceded under Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellen and reminding everyone else just who runs Bartertown.

  Most importantly, it pulls liquidity from around the world back into US markets, providing a foundation for a future where Davos doesn’t control DC. There are further implications of this but I’ll leave that for Part II.

  The question I leave you with is the following, “Is there another, bigger avalanche further up the mountain?”

  *  *  *

  Join my Patreon if you don’t want to be a pebble.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 18:20

• Ex-CNN President Jeff Zucker Ordered Staff To Ignore Lab-Leak Theory
  Ex-CNN President Jeff Zucker Ordered Staff To Ignore Lab-Leak Theory

  Former CNN president Jeff Zucker ordered network employees not to investigate the Covid-19 lab leak theory because he considered it a “Trump talking point,” a “well-placed” CNN insider told Fox News Digital on Monday.

  

  The ‘theory’ was recently bolstered by a Department of Energy finding that a lab-leak was the most likely origin for the virus, while FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed last week that his agency believes the same.

  “People are slowly waking up from the fog,” the insider told Fox. “It is kind of crazy that we didn’t chase it harder.”

  Throughout Zucker’s tenure as CNN’s chief, he pulled what was once widely seen as a straight-news organization to an anti-Trump operation. CNN bent over backwards to knock down what former President Trump and members of his administration said lending credibility to the lab-leak theory, as the White House was deemed a nemesis by the network. -Fox News

  Fox News notes that on March 28, 2020, CNN‘s Oliver Darcy published a story with the headline:”Here’s how to debunk coronavirus misinformation and conspiracy theories from friends and family.”

  Add this near the top of the mountains of media scandals. On a vital question of this generation – how did COVID originate? – they claimed a certainty they lacked, and banished a theory that was fully viable, because they prioritized their partisan allegiances above reporting.

  — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 6, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  “While the coronavirus pandemic has isolated family and friends inside their homes, it has in many cases increased online or over-the-phone communication with loved ones,” Darcy wrote. “But, in some cases, relatives and friends share poor information – whether it is bad science related to how to prevent the virus, debunked rumors about cities being put on lockdown, or conspiracy theories about the origins of Covid-19. While any strain of misinformation is not ideal, misinformation related to a public health crisis has an especially dangerous element to it,” he continued.

  CNN host Fareed Zakaria notably said that “the far right has now found its own virus conspiracy theory” while discussing the lab-leak theory.

  And on Feb. 18, 2020, CNN insisted that it was “possible, yet unlikely, that the lab was connected to the start of the outbreak.”

  Meanwhile, during an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci – who we recently learned ordered the fabrication of the ‘Proximal Origins’ paper ruling out the lab-leak – CNN‘s John Vause called the lab-leak theory “misinformation.”

  Fauci responded that “theories that are not based on evidence and facts often can really mislead people.”

  A CNN headline from April 2020 reading “Nearly 30% in the US believe a coronavirus theory that’s almost certainly not true” was based on a Pew Research poll taken at the time. 

  “Its origin is up for debate, but it wasn’t made in a lab,” CNN reported. “There’s still much we don’t know about the coronavirus pandemic, but virus experts agree on one piece of its origin story: The virus likely originated in a bat, not in a Chinese lab.” -Fox News

  CNN directly politicized the issue once again on May 5, 2020, when now-fired Chris Cillizza, wrote the headline “Anthony Fauci just crushed Donald Trump’s theory on the origins of the coronavirus,” in which he noted that Trump “has been making the case that the coronavirus originated not in nature but in a lab in Wuhan, China,” but that Fauci’s natural origins claim was more accurate.

  “Now, before we play the game of ‘he said, he said’ remember this: Only one of these two people is a world-renowned infectious disease expert. And it’s not Donald Trump,” wrote Cillizza. “In short, Fauci’s view on the origins of the disease matters a whole lot more than Trump’s opinion about where it came from.”

  “Especially because, outside of Trump and his immediate inner circle, most people in a position to know are very, very skeptical of the Trump narrative that the virus came out of a lab – whether accidentally or on purpose.”

  And of course, it was more than just CNN…

  Probably the most incredible media fact — one so shameful the NYT has to ignore it — is that their lead COVID reporter maligned the lab leak theory as **racist**, only for key parts of the USG itself to now admit it’s a likely explanation.

  Fauci gave the orders; they obeyed. pic.twitter.com/p3sOcKBW0C

  — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 6, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 18:11

• 'The Government Is Trying To Kill Us Now': Low-Income Americans Fume In Mile-Long Food Lines After Pandemic Benefits End
  ‘The Government Is Trying To Kill Us Now’: Low-Income Americans Fume In Mile-Long Food Lines After Pandemic Benefits End

  Over the past year, 18 US states have officially ended pandemic-era states of emergency – including the covid food benefit, while a December mandate from Congress will end aid in March for the other 32 states, along with the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands and Guam.

  

  The collective return to pre-pandemic policies includes enhanced unemployment benefits and child tax credits, as well as a rollback adjustment to Medicaid that boosted enrollment.

  Now, people are waiting up to nine hours in mile-long lines for free food – some of whom say they can only afford to eat once per day, while others say they limit expensive food items such as meat for specific family members, such as growing teenage boys.

  “I thought, ‘Wow, the government is trying to kill us now,” said 63-year-old Danny Blair of Kentucky. Blair, who lives in a mobile home with his wife, survives on his Social Security disability check, the Washington Post reports.

  “They are going to starve us out,” Blair continued, apparently unaware that government assistance provided during the pandemic wasn’t permanent.

  Blair and his wife hop into their truck twice a month at 4 a.m. to ensure they get a few staples at the Hazel Green Food Project’s giveaway. On a recent Friday, they waited nine hours until local prisoners on work duty started loading bags of meat and vegetables, potato chips and cookies into vehicles in one of the nation’s most impoverished communities.

  From the front to the back of the line, the sea of despair and hardship along this desolate Kentucky highway foreshadowed what may be in store for millions of Americans as the federal government ended the remaining pandemic increase in monthly food stamp benefits this week. -WaPo

  As the Post frames it, the pullback of pandemic-related aid could pose a setback to the Biden administration’s efforts to ‘slash poverty’ while building a ‘healthier and more sustainable middle class’ – none of which were the stated goals of the temporary aid.

  “We saw positive benefits from this and less hardship, including for families with children,” said Dottie Rosenbaum, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who points out that all the free money helped reduce childhood poverty rates in 2021. “We can expect that to reverse now.”

  Following the reduction in benefits, the average SNAP recipient’s benefits are expected to drop by around $90 per month, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That said, an even greater reduction is in store for seniors and the working poor who receive assistance from other government programs, and will likely qualify for less.

  In Kentucky, many seniors on food stamps saw their monthly benefit drop from $281 to $22 last year after the state ended the pandemic emergency in May, according to local food bank network, Feeding Kentucky.

  Other states are preparing for the same

  “We are bracing, and our agencies, member food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens are not prepared for what is about to hit them,” Said Ohio Association of Foodbanks executive director, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt. “This reduction, and end of the public health emergency, could not be coming at a worse time.”

  Even before the benefits retired this month in Ohio, Hamler-Fugitt said demand at food banks soared last year as retail food prices rose by 11.4 percent nationwide, more than five times the historical annual average. She said Ohio charities and foodbanks served 3.1 million people in the last quarter of 2022, which she called a record and about 600,000 more than were served during the same period in 2021.

  Now, Hamler-Fugitt expects many of the state’s 1.5 million recipients will also be scrambling to find food assistance, adding she projects the benefit reductions will remove $120 million from Ohio’s retail economy each month. -WaPo

  “We estimate we would have to increase our distribution by 15 times to even begin to address this, and we don’t have the resources to do that,” said Hamler-Fugitt. “So hunger rates are going to increase among our seniors, and families, and our children are going to fall behind academically because they are not going to be able to concentrate on empty stomachs.”

  Is this practical?

  In Kentucky, GOP lawmaker Sen. Donald Douglas said during debates that it wasn’t practical to live “under a constant state of emergency.”

  “Let’s ask yourself, should SNAP benefits be a way of life?” he asked. “Now we know it is for some. Should it be a way of life for adults?“

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 03/06/2023 – 18:00

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• The Great 'Trifurcation'
  The Great ‘Trifurcation’

  Authored by Andrew Korybko via The Automatic Earth blog,

  Tri-Multipolarity

  The global systemic transition’s impending evolution towards tri-multipolarity could see the US-led West’s Golden Billion, the Sino-Russo Entente, and the de facto Indian-led Global South becoming the most prominent poles in International Relations, below which would be rising powers and regional groups. All actors would balance one another by multi-aligning within and between their respective levels, which might result in stabilizing global affairs much more than the prior unipolar and bi-multipolar orders did.

  

  International Relations are hurtling towards tripolarity at an astounding pace as a result of the dramatic events that unfolded over the past year and especially the last month. Those readers who haven’t closely been following this megatrend might be taken aback by this assessment, hence the need for them to review the following analyses that’ll place everything into its appropriate context. After listing them, they’ll then be summarized for convenience before explaining what might soon come next:

  The “New Détente”

  To oversimplify the confluence of these complex trends, the US prioritized containing Russia in order to facilitate its containment of China, ergo the latest phase of the Ukrainian Conflict that it provoked via Moscow’s ongoing special operation there. Throughout the course of the NATO-Russian proxy war that followed, the US successfully reasserted its unipolar hegemony over the EU while destabilizing the globalized system upon which China’s grand strategy depends, thus giving it an edge over Beijing.

  This in turn prompted President Xi to initiate an attempted “New Détente” during mid-November’s G20 Summit in Bali, during which time he hoped that China and the US could eventually reach a series of mutual compromises aimed at establishing a “new normal” in their ties. The purpose behind doing so was to delay the end of the bi-multipolar world order within which these two superpowers exerted the most influence over International Relations, which was challenged by India’s rise over the past year.

  India’s Game-Changing Influence

  That South Asian state became a globally significant Great Power during this time as a result of its masterful balancing act between the US-led West’s Golden Billion and the jointly BRICS– & SCO-led Global South of which it’s a part. Its kingmaker role in the New Cold War between them over the direction of the global systemic transition enabled the rest of the Global South to rise in India’s wake, thus revolutionizing International Relations by accelerating the emergence of tri-multipolarity.

  The aforementioned sequence of events imbued the Sino-American “New Détente” with a sense of urgency since both superpowers had self-interested reasons for regaining joint control of these processes, though their attempted rapprochement was unexpectedly derailed by the balloon incident. The resultantly renewed influence of hardline factions over policymaking that occurred in the aftermath of that incident abruptly ended their incipient talks and placed them on the trajectory of intense rivalry.

  China’s Grand Strategic Recalculations

  In parallel with the abovementioned development, NATO declared that it’s in a so-called “race of logistics”/“war of attrition” with Russia, which implied that it’ll redouble its military support to Kiev even at the expense of meeting its own members’ minimum national security needs. Should that bloc succeed in making a breakthrough along the Line of Control (LOC), then it could catalyze the worst-case scenario of Russia’s “Balkanization” if those disadvantageous military-strategic dynamics spiral out of control.

  Both President Putin and his predecessor Medvedev recently warned about that possibility, which remains unlikely for now but still can’t be discounted, thus contributing to China’s gradual recalibration of its approach to the NATO-Russian proxy war when coupled with the end of the “New Détente”. This directly led to the People’s Republic seriously considering the dispatch of lethal aid to its strategic partner in order to offset that worst-case scenario, thus prompting sanctions threats from the West.

  “The Great Trifurcation”

  In the event that China feels forced by NATO to aid Russia in such a way and the Golden Billion imposes sanctions against it in response, then it’s expected that a US-initiated Chinese-European “decoupling” along the lines of the prior US-initiated Russian-European one could potentially follow. Reuters’ exclusive report on Wednesday citing four unnamed US officials and other sources extended credence to the preceding scenario by revealing that the Golden Billion is indeed discussing multilateral sanctions.

  Should those two developments take place – China arming Russia and then being sanctioned by the Golden Billion in a way that provokes their “decoupling” (whether gradual or instantaneous) – then International Relations would enter a period of tri-multipolarity characterized by the prominence of three poles that exert the most influence over global affairs, but whose influence nevertheless wouldn’t be absolute since it’ll be kept in check to an extent by rising powers and regional groups.

  The Tri-Multipolar World Order

  The three expected poles are the US-led West’s Golden Billion, the Sino-Russo Entente, and the de facto Indian-led Global South that’ll likely continue informally assembling into a new Non-Aligned Movement (“Neo-NAM”). Within the last-mentioned will reside rising powers like Brazil, Iran, South Africa, and Turkiye, among others, alongside regional groups like the African Union (AU), ASEAN, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

  Each of these three categories of actors – the three poles as well as the rising powers and regional groups that sit below the former in this informal international hierarchy – are expected to balance one another by multi-aligning within and between their respective levels. India’s role will be the most important of them all since it’s poised to facilitate trade between the Golden Billion and the Sino-Russo Entente in the event that their potential “decoupling” is taken to an extreme, which can’t be ruled out.

  India’s Kingmaker Role

  Furthermore, India’s earlier virtual hosting of the Voice Of Global South Summit positioned this civilization-state as the center of gravity for its fellow developing peers, which bolsters the likelihood that the Neo-NAM will continue informally assembling around it. From there, India can promote its own financial, technological, and other platforms in order to provide Global South states with a neutral third choice between the Golden Billion and the Sino-Russo Entente’s respective ones in the New Cold War.

  Those rising powers and regional groups that participate within the unofficially Indian-led Neo-NAM could also develop their own platforms too, but India’s might become the standard for facilitating engagement between them at their early stages. In parallel, global fora like the UN and G20 will no longer have much significance other than functioning as talking clubs, while interests-driven and regional groups will replace their prior role in promoting tangible cooperation between countries.

  Concluding Thoughts

  The global systemic transition’s impending evolution towards tri-multipolarity could see the US-led West’s Golden Billion, the Sino-Russo Entente, and the de facto Indian-led Global South becoming the most prominent poles in International Relations, below which would be rising powers and regional groups. All actors would balance one another by multi-aligning within and between their respective levels, which might result in stabilizing global affairs much more than the prior unipolar and bi-multipolar orders did.

  *  *  *

  Background Briefings

  * 7 October 2021: “Towards Bi-Multipolarity”

  * 16 December 2021: “The Neo-NAM: From Vision To Reality”

  * 15 March 2022: “Why Did The U.S. Prioritize Containing Russia Over China?”

  * 26 March 2022: “Russia Is Waging an Existential Struggle in Defense of Its Independence & Sovereignty”

  * 22 May 2022: “Russia, Iran, And India Are Creating A Third Pole Of Influence In International Relations”

  * 6 June 2022: “India Is The Irreplaceable Balancing Force In The Global Systemic Transition”

  * 20 June 2022: “Towards Dual-Tripolarity: An Indian Grand Strategy For The Age Of Complexity”

  * 5 August 2022: “The Russian Foreign Ministry Comprehensively Explained The Global Systemic Transition”

  *  1 October 2022: “The Ukrainian Conflict Might Have Already Derailed China’s Superpower Trajectory”

  * 29 October 2022: “The Importance Of Properly Framing The New Cold War”

  * 19 November 2022: “Analyzing The US-Chinese-Russian-Indian Interplay In The Global Systemic Transition”

  * 29 November 2022: “The Evolution Of Key Players’ Perceptions Across The Course Of The Ukrainian Conflict”

  * 14 December 2022: “India’s Principled Neutrality Reaps Grand Strategic Dividends”

  * 28 December 2022: “The Five Ways That The US Successfully Reasserted Its Hegemony Over Europe In 2022”

  * 1 January 2023: “The New York Times Tried To Throw Shade On India’s Global Rise”

  * 7 January 2023: “India’s Global South Summit Is The Most Important Multilateral Event In Decades”

  * 11 January 2023: “Exposing Western Media’s Narrative Agenda In Spinning The Sino-American New Détente”

  * 4 February 2023: “The Chinese Balloon Incident Could Decisively Shift China’s & The US’ ‘Deep State’ Dynamics”

  * 14 February 2023: “NATO’s Self-Declared ‘Race Of Logistics’ Confirms The Bloc’s Military-Industrial Crisis”

  * 26 February 2023: “China Compellingly Appears To Be Recalibrating Its Approach To The NATO-Russian Proxy War”

  * 28 February 2023: “Just How Drastically Would The World Change If China Armed Russia?”

  * 1 March 2023: “Global Fora Like The UN & G20 Are Gradually Losing Their Importance”

  * 1 March 2023: “Germany Is Lying: Chinese Arms Shipments To Russia Wouldn’t Violate International Law”

  *  *  *

  Support the Automatic Earth with Patreon

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 23:30

• Deporting Fentanyl Dealers Violates Sanctuary City Policies, Says SF Supervisor
  Deporting Fentanyl Dealers Violates Sanctuary City Policies, Says SF Supervisor

  Authored by Brad Jones via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  San Francisco County Supervisor Shamann Walton told San Franciscans this week the U.S. shouldn’t deport illegal immigrant drug dealers for selling fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that was largely responsible for nearly 2,000 drug overdose deaths in the city since 2020.

  “There’s been a drug issue in this country for a very long time. But there’s no way we’re going to stand by and allow people to say that one race or immigrants are responsible for these fentanyl deaths,” Walton said at a rally on the steps of City Hall on Feb. 28.

  

  Walton defended the city’s sanctuary policies that prohibit city authorities from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in response to a proposal by Supervisor Matt Dorsey to add fentanyl crimes to a list of violent crimes the city uses for cooperating with ICE. Dorsey’s proposal aligns with a recent push for a crackdown on fentanyl dealers initiated by District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

  

  “You cannot violate sanctuary policy for any reason. It goes against the morals of our fabric here in San Francisco, and it also allows people who don’t share our values to persecute people that need us the most,” Walton said at the rally. “People are going crazy over fentanyl because we’re starting to see more white people die from this drug. Where the hell were these people when my mothers and my grandmothers were on crack?”

  J.J. Smith lives in the city’s infamous Tenderloin district, a hotspot for drug use, and he lost his brother to a fentanyl overdose in October. He told The Epoch Times on March 2 that Walton’s remarks came as “a shock” and “didn’t set well with a lot of people, even the black community.”

  Smith said it’s no secret that drug dealers with connections to Honduras largely control the illicit fentanyl trade in the Tenderloin, which is not directly affecting Walton’s district.

  Honduran dealers “are the only people in San Francisco that have large quantities of fentanyl,” he claimed. “We should care because it’s killing everybody, not only white people. And, even if it does kill only white people, who is to say that’s fair?”

  Smith questioned the logic behind lesser punishments for fentanyl dealers when crack dealers in the 1980s and 1990s, including African Americans, were handed long prison sentences for their crimes.

  “But now Walton is speaking about a deadly drug that’s killing more people than any drug that’s ever been on the market,” he said.

  

  Jacqui Berlinn, co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Deaths, told The Epoch Times she was offended by Walton’s comments.

  Berlinn said she was a child during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, but that she is now fighting for her son Corey, who is addicted to fentanyl, and “for all citizens of all races” affected by the “poison flooding our cities.”

  “We have members fighting with us who are black,” she told The Epoch Times in a text message. “Fentanyl is killing U.S. citizens of all races—disproportionately persons of color. It’s also poisoning U.S. children that had no idea what they were getting. There has never been a drug market so deadly as the one we are experiencing now.”

  San Francisco was among the first 12 U.S. cities to declared itself a sanctuary city, prohibiting local police from stopping or arresting people based on their immigration status.

  Walton was speaking at a noon rally in support of Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s proposed resolution denouncing criticism of sanctuary city policies at City Hall ahead of the Feb. 28 Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisors Myrna Melgar and Dean Preston also attended the rally.

  After nearly two hours of public comments, the board voted unanimously to continue debate on the issue at its next meeting on March 7.

  San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said at the rally that city police unfairly target black and brown dealers and that the “war on drugs” was designed to target black and brown people for arrest and incarceration, while white dealers are rarely arrested.

  “We also know that Latin X community members who are targeted are young and often survivors of labor, trafficking, and exploitation. Using our local resources to funnel these individuals to ICE detention facilities will subject them to horrific conditions that can lead to a death sentence for deportation,” he said. “And, all this cruelty is going to do nothing to stem the overdoses.”

  Dorsey did not respond to requests for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 23:00

• Tulsi Gabbard: Democrats Are The Party Of Division, Authoritarianism, & War
  Tulsi Gabbard: Democrats Are The Party Of Division, Authoritarianism, & War

  Authored by Liam Cosgrove via The Epoch Times,

  Democrats are funding a dangerous war in Ukraine, stifling ideological dissent, and polarizing this country.

  

  That was the message from former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, speaking on the final day of CPAC.

  The former congresswoman took shots at radical gender ideology and accused President Joe Biden of stoking racial tensions by embracing identity politics.

  She accused Biden of “fanning the flames of divisiveness.”

  “They reduce each of us to the color of our skin,” Gabbard said in her speech, saying the Democrats “have become the racists they claim to hate.”

  Gabbard, now a registered independent, denounced her former political party for its reckless armament of Ukraine and warned that the policy of providing lethal aid is bringing the United States to the “brink of nuclear war.”

  “They’ve sent now over $100 billion to fuel this proxy war,” she said.

  On Friday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken promised an additional $400 million in weaponry and utility gear to Ukraine, with tensions rising as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has vowed to use Western arms to retake Russian-occupied Crimea.

  Gabbard, a combat veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, has long espoused a message of ending “regime change wars” and advocating for a more restrained foreign policy. Many within the Republican Party align with Gabbard’s anti-war sentiments.

  After watching Gabbard’s speech, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times that he supports her advocacy to end U.S. financial support for the Ukrainian military.

  The congressman talked about working closely with Gabbard in the House Armed Services Committee and butting heads with the pro-war “so-called national security experts,” as he called them.

  “I think we need a focused foreign policy based in realism, not fantastical dreams of turning countries like Syria into Jeffersonian democracies,” he said.

  “I want a strong, well-funded, highly capable military that we rarely use.”

  On the topic of gender, Gabbard called out progressives for rejecting “the fact that there is such a thing as a woman.”

  “All the ladies can attest here that we are in fact real,” she said, adding that Democrats are confusing fiction with reality.

  “Truth becomes whatever those in power say it is at any given time.”

  After dropping out of the presidential race, Gabbard declined to seek reelection to Congress and has since focused on activism and public speaking.

  Her political future remains uncertain, but Gabbard’s unique blend of progressive and non-interventionist views continues to make her a fascinating figure in American politics.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 22:30

• Bump Stocks Return To Store Shelves In These Three States
  Bump Stocks Return To Store Shelves In These Three States

  Following the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to invalidate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ administrative ban on bump stocks, the Department of Justice was given until last Monday to challenge the ruling before the Supreme Court. However, since the DOJ did not take any action, the Fifth Circuit’s order became effective, which allowed three states, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, to begin selling bump stocks once again. 

  Michael Cargill, the owner of Austin’s Central Texas Gun Works, sued to challenge the ban in 2019 with New Civil Liberties Alliance, a litigation group that says it protects constitutional freedoms, including Second Amendment rights. 

  They lost in federal court in Austin, and before a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit, one of the country’s most conservative courts. 

  Victory came after another hearing, this time before the full 5th Circuit. —The Dallas Morning News

  The DOJ had until Monday to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court but let the deadline pass.

  

  “Bump Stocks are now legal in TEXAS, LOUISIANA & MISSISSIPPI,” Cargill tweeted last week.

  Hey @ATFHQ thanks to Michael Cargill v Garland, bump stocks are being sold at https://t.co/CwO5T4XnFV #2a #2AShallNotBeInfringed #Texas #Louisiana #Mississippi https://t.co/SNd5G6iRFo

  — Michael Cargill (@michaeldcargill) March 4, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Cargill said his store plans to sell bump stocks soon. He said the retail price would be around $249, about 15% higher than pre-ban prices, primarily due to higher commodity, labor, and transportation costs. 

  The ATF can still enforce the bump stock ban outside Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. 

  “Essentially, the ATF is prevented from enforcing the rule for the time being in these three states,” South Texas College of Law professor Dru Stevenson said. 

  As to why the DOJ didn’t ask the Supreme Court to consider the issue… Keeping the case in the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction would prevent the Supreme Court from agreeing with Cargill and overturning the ban nationwide. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 22:00

• Capitol Police, FBI Failed To Share "Credible Threats" Before Jan. 6 Breach: Watchdog
  Capitol Police, FBI Failed To Share “Credible Threats” Before Jan. 6 Breach: Watchdog

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

  FBI agents and U.S. Capitol Police officers identified “credible threats” ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, electoral vote certification but did not properly disseminate the intelligence, a watchdog says in a new report.

  

  The FBI obtained information from human informants, social media, and other agencies and tracked suspected domestic terrorists traveling to Washington, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (pdf).

  Capitol Police officials examined information developed from arrests and investigations, as well as open sources, and distributed a document three days before Jan. 6 that conveyed a subject of an investigation had said militia members planned to attend a Jan. 6 demonstration while armed, which would violate Washington law.

  Both agencies assessed threats for credibility and reported that some of the threats were deemed credible.

  But both failed to properly adhere to policies for processing or sharing information, the watchdog found.

  FBI agents in San Antonio, Texas, for instance, received tips from the social media company Parler but did not develop reports based on the tips, as required.

  “FBI officials noted that the FBI San Antonio Field Office did not develop any related reports on January 6 events as required by policy, such as Guardians, situational information reports, or intelligence information reports but did not indicate why not,” GAO said.

  Such reports are distributed to state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners.

  

  A U.S. Capitol Police officer monitors the crowd atop the east Rotunda steps on Jan. 6, 2021. (Bobby Powell/Special to The Epoch Times)

  Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said on “Just the News, No Noise” that the FBI “had a blueprint for what was going to happen, and they didn’t think about it and look at the consequences.”

  The FBI did develop some reports, which it shared with partners, the GAO report noted.

  ‘Relevant Threat Information’ Omitted

  Capitol Police officials, meanwhile, left out “relevant threat information” it received from other agencies in documents developed for Jan. 6, according to GAO.

  “Capitol Police identified potential violence that could occur on January 6 in Washington, D.C. in advance of planned events. However, it did not consistently incorporate complete information into assessments of threats in its threat products, such as information obtained from other agencies regarding an individual traveling to Washington, D.C. to engage in violence at January 6 events,” the report said.

  One example of information left out was a suspicious activity report from Washington Homeland Security officials that indicated an individual planned to travel to the nation’s capitol to engage in violence during Jan. 6 protests.

  Capitol Police officials also failed to update a threat product to include important information, including information indicating violence might occur during the demonstrations, and did not consistently share relevant details across its agency, “resulting in some officers, agents and intelligence staff not having complete information,” the report stated.

  Eight other agencies, including the National Park Service and the Secret Service, examined by GAO received information, but they either did not assess threats for credibility or did not identify any of the threats as credible.

  The Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence & Analysis (DHS I&A) did not assess any reports or identify any credible threats before the department’s team charged with collecting information from open sources “did not share reports on January 6 open source threats with other DHS I&A divisions until after the Capitol attack occurred,” according to the watchdog.

  

  Police officers set up barricades outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

  DHS I&A also failed to share information with the Capitol Police “in a timely manner,” GAO said.

  GAO made 10 recommendations, including advising FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, to assess why personnel did not adhere to policy in processing information related to Jan. 6 and, after an assessment, implement a plan for fixing what went wrong.

  FBI Takes Note

  Many of the agencies, including the FBI, agreed with the recommendations.

  “We appreciate the GAO’s extensive fact gathering and thorough analysis in the report,” adding that “we will incorporate GAO’s conclusion that, despite collecting and sharing significant pieces of threat reporting, the FBI did not process all relevant information related to potential violence on January 6,” Larissa Knapp, an FBI official, said in a response to GAO.

  “Our goal is always to disrupt and stay ahead of the threat, and we are constantly trying to learn and evaluate what we could have done better or differently, this is especially true of the attack on the Capitol,” Knapp also said.

  The FBI declined to comment beyond Knapp’s letter. The Capitol Police and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

  U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger told GAO that it is taking steps to implement the watchdog’s recommendation that the Capitol Police Board should establish policies for sharing information on possible threats across the agency.

  Manger said the department is drafting policy that “will provide guidance for sharing threat-related information agency-wide.”

  GAO previously concluded that DHS should have designated the Jan. 6 demonstrations as special, which would have triggered heightened security.

  Another previous report found that many agencies were aware of open source, or publicly available, information on potential violence planned for Jan. 6.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 21:30

• Japan's Population In Freefall As Twice As Many People Die As Are Born
  Japan’s Population In Freefall As Twice As Many People Die As Are Born

  Japan’s population is in freefall.

  In 2022, the number of births registered in Japan plummeted to another record low last year according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health – the latest worrying statistic in a decades-long decline that the country’s authorities have failed to reverse despite their extensive efforts.

  The country saw just 799,728 births in 2022 – the lowest number on record and the first ever dip below 800,000 – and about half of the number of deaths, which  at more than 1.58 million, was a record high. The number of births in Japan has nearly halved in the past 40 years: in 1982, Japan recorded more than 1.5 million births, a number which was then more than double the number of deaths. This ratio has since reversed.

  

  As shown in the chart above, deaths have outpaced births in Japan for the past 15 years – a trend which is unlikely to reverse ever again – posing an existential problem for the (aged) leaders of the world’s third-largest economy. They now face a ballooning elderly population, along with a shrinking workforce to fund pensions and health care as demand from the aging population surges.

  Japan’s population has been in steady decline since its economic boom of the 1980s and stood at 125.5 million in 2021, according to the most recent government figures.

  According to CNN, Japan’s fertility rate of 1.3 is far below the rate of 2.1 required to maintain a stable population, in the absence of immigration.

  The country also has one of the highest life expectancies in the world; in 2020, nearly one in 1,500 people in Japan were age 100 or older, according to government data.

  These concerning trends prompted a warning in January from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that Japan is “on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions.”

  “In thinking of the sustainability and inclusiveness of our nation’s economy and society, we place child-rearing support as our most important policy,” he said, adding that Japan “simply cannot wait any longer” in solving the problem of its low birth rate.

  A new government agency will be set up in April to focus on the issue, with PM Kishida saying in January that he wants the government to double its spending on child-related programs. But money alone might not be able to solve the multi-pronged problem, with various social factors contributing to the low birth rate.

  Japan’s high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Urban couples are also often far from extended family in other regions, who could help provide support.

  In 2022, Japan was ranked one of the world’s most expensive places to raise a child, according to research from financial institution Jefferies. And yet, the country’s economy has stalled since the early 1990s, meaning frustratingly low wages and little upward mobility: the average real annual household income declined from 6.59 million yen ($50,600) in 1995 to 5.64 million yen ($43,300) in 2020, according to 2021 data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

  Attitudes toward marriage and starting families have also shifted in recent years, with more couples putting off both during the pandemic — and young people feeling increasingly pessimistic about the future.

  In 2022, Japan was ranked one of the world’s most expensive places to raise a child, according to research from financial institution Jefferies. And yet, the country’s economy has stalled since the early 1990s, meaning frustratingly low wages and little upward mobility.

  The average real annual household income declined from 6.59 million yen ($50,600) in 1995 to 5.64 million yen ($43,300) in 2020, according to 2021 data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

  Attitudes toward marriage and starting families have also shifted in recent years, with more couples putting off both during the pandemic — and young people feeling increasingly pessimistic about the future. Who can blame them for not feeling frisky.

  It’s a familiar story throughout East Asia, where South Korea’s fertility rate — already the world’s lowest — dropped yet again last year in the latest setback to the country’s efforts to boost its declining population.

  Meanwhile, in January China just lost its title as the world’s most populous country to India after its population shrank in 2022 for the first time since the 1960s.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 21:00

• A Long Idea From One Of Wall Street's Biggest Bears
  A Long Idea From One Of Wall Street’s Biggest Bears

  By Russell Clark, author of the Capital Flows and Asset Markets substack, and former CIO of the (very bearish) Horseman Global hedge fund.

  

  In previous posts, I have tried to talk about how I used to manage money using a 3M process – Macro, Micro and Market. In essence I was looking for a macro change, that was supported by underlying industry data (micro) and confirmed by market trends, particularly technicals. The biggest macro trend I paid attention to was currency, which I had seen be the least understood factor in investing in my career. This stopped working in 2016, with Brexit, China and Trump, making politics far more important than macro. It took me a long time to accept that politics is more important than macro, but now that it has, my investing process is improving. I have had to rename it 4M – with the additional M is motivation, which is another way of saying politics. Paid subscribers will be aware of the ideas I have already pitched.

  On the long side, I like Occidental for its commodity exposure and long term option on Direct Air Capture technology. I also like Japanese banks as an aggressive inflation trade. On the short side, I still like TLT, McDonalds, and residential REITS. All of this ideas are driven by the view that inflation is political, and the politics is now towards raising real wages. This means you have inflation, AND, tight financial conditions to protect those wage increase.

  One of the ideas I have been toying with has been driven by politics, or the Motivation (the first M). One of the key ideas is that rising wages tends to push up the price of food. In a world of rising wages, food prices should rise.

  

  This surge in food inflation is driven by China getting wealthy, more than anything else. The success of China in driving wages higher relative to other Asian nations that industrialized earlier is truly staggering. In a pro-capital world, China would have been expected to devalue to regain competitiveness, but China has obviously chosen to promote higher wages. When economist talk about China exporting inflation, what they mean is that Chinese policy has successfully raised wages – and in stark contrast to the experience of other Asian nations.

  

  The combination of rising food prices makes me like food related companies, particularly companies that own or control farm land. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also made me like the look of agricultural commodities that Ukraine has a large market share of exports – namely sunflower oil. In the traded vegetable oil market, palm oil dominates, with sunflower oil and soybean oil following.

  

  Vegetable oil imports is one commodity that India imports more than China, making its demand outlook more robust than industrial commodities.

  

  As it happens, supply of sunflower oil was better than expected, and inventory of crude palm oil has been larger than expected. This had lead palm oil to trade at a discount to soy.

  

  Crude palm oil production and exports are dominated by two countries, Indonesia and Malaysia. The largest plantation owner is Singapore listed Wilmar International.

  

  There are two things that attract me to Wilmar. Firstly, when they export palm oil to both China and India, they have built a local brand of vegetable oil as a consumer business. This has a much higher value than the plantation business, which they have attempted to monetize by listing a 10% stake in their Chinese consumer business in Shanghai. The value of their stake in Kerry Arwana has consistently been higher than Wilmar’s market cap.

  

  The other thing that gets me very excited about Wilmar is that they have begun to expand into Africa. Still small, but this is much large than any other listed crude palm operators in Arica. Nigeria is now a a larger consumer of palm oil than the US, and has been growing rapidly. Palm oil originated in West Africa, before being introduced to Malaysia and Indonesia, so offers an attractive way to play growing African consumption.

  

  Wilmar has a track record of building good consumer businesses, even in notoriously difficult markets like China and India.

  

  Wilmar trades below book value with a 4% dividend yield. Why so cheap? I can give a lot of reasons, ranging from claims that palm oil cultivation destroys the environment, to the fact that other Singaporean commodity trading stocks, Noble and Olam ended up in financial trouble, and delisted. Against that, US listed trader, Archer Daniels Midland owns 25% of Wilmar. Wilmar faces the same headwinds of rising interest rates, but a cheap valuation with a long dated call option on African consumption sounds pretty good to me. Full discloser – I have a long position.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 20:30

• With Tuesday Pot Legalization Vote, OK Poised To Rake In Texans' Money
  With Tuesday Pot Legalization Vote, OK Poised To Rake In Texans’ Money

  Tuesday may bring a major milestone in America’s relentless march toward marijuana legalization, as Oklahoma will likely become the most conservative state so far to approve recreational use of the plant. Trump carried the state by a 33% margin in 2020. 

  Oklahomans will consider State Question 820, which offers a chance to legalize consumption by adults 21 and older — along with their possession of up to an ounce — and grant Okies the freedom to grow six mature plants and six seedlings for their own use.

  A 15% tax would be imposed on sales, with proceeds flowing to student services, drug addiction programs, courts, local government and the state’s general fund. 

  

  With approval, Oklahoma stands to rake in tax revenue from Texans expected to cross the border to take a break from the Lone Star State’s stubborn nanny-state tyranny. Ryan Kiesel, a former Oklahoma state legislator and current legalization advocate told AP:  

  “There are thousands and thousands of Texans who are increasingly coming to Oklahoma as a tourist destination. I want to be able to sell legal, regulated and taxed marijuana to those Texans over the age of 21, and take their tax dollars and invest them in Oklahoma schools and Oklahoma health care.”

  Nearly 8 million people live in Dallas-Fort Worth, which is almost twice as many as live in all of Oklahoma.

  Oklahoma is a standout with one of the country’s most relaxed medical marijuana regimes. About one in ten adults in the state holds a medical license. In contrast to most states that allow medical use, Oklahoma has no list of qualifying conditions and patients can receive a doctor’s recommendation over the internet. 

  Okie cannabis growers are desperate to expand their market: The state’s medical marijuana market is so relatively free that low barriers to entry have sent prices into a nose-dive, with one retailer telling AP the price of a 1-gram cartridge of concentrate has collapsed from $60 to $70 in 2019 to just $20 today. 

  The last public poll on the proposal — taken way back in October — had voters approving recreational legalization, 49% to 38%. The question was originally slated to appear on the November 2022 midterm ballot, but a delay in verifying petition signatures led to it being moved to March 7.

  In 2018, the ballot measure to allow medical use was approved 56% to 43%. The wild card in Tuesday’s election is turnout, as SQ820 is the only statewide measure on the ballot.  

  Yes on 820‘s Michelle Tilley told NonDoc that her team is feeling “pretty good” about their chances:

  “I think what resonates with people is compassion for other human beings with the criminal justice reform, and I think the revenue piece is also something people have been excited about.”

  The Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association opposes the measure, but plenty of cops are ready to stop wasting time and resources punishing adults who choose to intoxicate themselves with a plant nobody’s ever overdosed from.  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 20:00

• Russia's Oil Revenues Plunged By 48% In February
  Russia’s Oil Revenues Plunged By 48% In February

  By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com,

  Russian tax revenue from crude oil and petroleum products plummeted by 48% in February from a year earlier due to the much lower price of Russia’s flagship crude grade after the EU banned imports of Russian oil, according to Bloomberg estimates based on official Russian data.

  

  Total tax revenues from oil and natural gas dipped by 46% year over year to $6.9 billion (521 billion Russian rubles) in February, per data from the Russian Finance Ministry published on Friday.

  Russia’s revenues from crude oil and oil products alone crumbled by 48% annually to $4.8 billion (361 billion rubles), according to Bloomberg’s calculations. Oil accounted for more than two-thirds of Russia’s energy tax revenue in February.

  Russian natural gas revenues also plummeted last month compared to February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Natural gas revenues slumped by 42% as Russia cut off gas supplies to a number of EU customers after the invasion. 

  The plunge in the price of the flagship Russian crude grade, Urals, was the key reason for the lower revenues for the country for both January and February this year.

  Russia’s budget was $23.3 billion (1.76 trillion rubles) into deficit in January, compared to a surplus for January 2022, as state revenues from oil and gas plunged by 46.4% due to the low price of Urals and lower natural gas exports, the Russian Finance Ministry said last month. Russia’s budget revenues from oil and gas plunged in January by 46% compared to the same month last year due to the sanctions on Russian oil exports, which led to a slump in the price of Russia’s flagship crude grade.

  The average price of the Urals blend stood at $49.52 per barrel in January and February 2023, compared to $88.89 per barrel for the same months last year, the Russian Finance Ministry said earlier this week. The price of Urals averaged $49.56 a barrel in February 2023, or 1.86 times lower than the average price in February 2022 – $92.15 per barrel.    

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 19:30

• Communities Block, Ban Dollar Stores Amid Nationwide Invasion
  Communities Block, Ban Dollar Stores Amid Nationwide Invasion

  Recall Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar stores are invading low-income communities nationwide. At the start of 2022, all three discount retailers operated 34,000 US stores, more than Mcdonald’s, Starbucks, Target, and Walmart combined. Now there’s a wave of grassroots opposition in cities and towns blocking these chains from opening new stores. 

  According to a new report published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit organization and advocacy group focused on sustainable local economies, at least 75 communities blocked proposed dollar stores, with more than 50 of those denials occurring between January 2021 and the end of 2022. 

  ISLR continued:

  At least 54 cities and towns — including Birmingham, Ala.; Fort Worth, Texas; Kansas City, Kan.; and Plainview, Neb. — have gone further. They’ve enacted laws that sharply restrict new dollar stores, typically by barring them from opening within one to two miles of an existing dollar store. 

  At least one town, Stonecrest, Ga., has imposed a total ban on new dollar stores. These laws are often adopted in conjunction with measures designed to support the retention and development of grocery stores.

  These discounted retailers are rapidly expanding their presence across the country, targeting low-income communities with cheap Chinese-made products and unhealthy food.

  

  A town in eastern Kentucky, with a population of 1,600, was recently overrun by a ‘dollar store mania.’ Given the low incomes and inexpensive land around Olive Hill, it makes sense why dollar stores are flooding the small town to take advantage of poor residents.

  An Olive Hill resident told Daily Mail last month:

  “It seems like there’s a dollar store every few feet.” 

  

  The proliferation of new dollar stores shows no signs of slowing down. “Communities need reinforcements to stop the encroachment of dollar stores. They need action at the federal level, where a negligent approach to antitrust has allowed Dollar General and Dollar Tree to flex their market power unfairly and overrun their less powerful competitors, especially independent grocery stores,” the report said. 

  Make local grocery stores and farms thrive again as small towns need an economic revival.  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 19:00

• Flynn Sues DOJ, FBI For Malicious Prosecution, Wants $50 Million
  Flynn Sues DOJ, FBI For Malicious Prosecution, Wants $50 Million

  Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI, and others, alleging he was maliciously prosecuted. He is demanding at least $50 million in compensation.

  “Defendant maliciously investigated and prosecuted General Flynn by initiating and continuing a baseless counterintelligence investigation and by filing a criminal information lacking probable cause,” says the suit, filed on March 3 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (pdf).

  

  The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the Obama administration was investigated by the FBI starting in August 2016 for supposed ties to Russia. In 2017, he was charged with lying to the FBI during an interview earlier that year.

  The suit alleges that the FBI, and later prosecutors from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, investigated and prosecuted him for political reasons, considering him a threat.

  “General Flynn—who already had a reputation as a hands-on disruptor at DIA, who had publicly excoriated the politicization of the intelligence community, and who had made clear his desire to overhaul the national security structure and the ‘interagency process’—was a direct threat, not only to the self-interest of entrenched intelligence bureaucracies and the federal officials involved, but to exposing their prior and ongoing efforts to derail and discredit President Trump,” the suit says.

  The case against Flynn was riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies. FBI agents had already decided to close his case by early January 2017, but higher-ups intervened to keep it open on the justification that Flynn may have violated an obscure and antiquated law called the Logan Act by discussing with a Russian ambassador the priorities of the incoming administration during the transition period. DOJ officials at the time rejected the legal theory. The 1799 Logan Act, which prohibits certain kinds of unauthorized diplomacy, may in fact be unconstitutional, several lawyers previously told The Epoch Times. It has never been successfully prosecuted, much less aimed at an incoming national security adviser.

  The Flynn investigation, codenamed Crossfire Razor, continued “only because of Defendant’s agents and agencies’ malicious, partisan, and unethical intent to investigate their political opponents generally and to destroy General Flynn specifically,” the suit says.

  Subsequent leaks to the media claimed that he may have violated the Logan Act by talking with the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak, about sanctions imposed at the time on Russia by the outgoing Obama administration.

  FBI top brass then meticulously prepared and arranged the interview to appear as “an informal meeting, just to put the Kislyak calls being discussed in the press to bed,” the suit says.

  On Jan. 24, 2017, when two FBI agents interviewed Flynn, they asked him whether he talked with Kislyak about expulsions of Russian diplomats. He said no, which was not the truth. When asked again, he said he didn’t remember.

  This exchange then formed the core of the charge brought against Flynn by Mueller, who took over his case in May 2017.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 18:30

• US Begins 'Training Assessment' For Ukrainian Pilots On F-16s
  US Begins ‘Training Assessment’ For Ukrainian Pilots On F-16s

  The White House has so far ruled out calls to provide the Ukrainian government with F-16 fighter jets, but clearly the idea is still on the table and Biden may be close to pulling the trigger amid intense administration discussions.

  “Two Ukrainian pilots are currently in the United States undergoing an assessment to determine how long it could take to train them to fly attack aircraft, including F-16 fighter jets, according to two congressional officials and a senior U.S. official,” a weekend NBC report indicates.

  “The Ukrainians’ skills are being evaluated on simulators at a U.S. military base in Tucson, Arizona, the officials said, and they may be joined by more of their fellow pilots soon,” the report continues.

  

  The officials additionally said 10 more Ukrainian pilots are expected to join the program soon, and they may arrive in the US this month.

  The officials emphasized that this does not yet constitute a fighter jet training program for Ukrainian pilots, and that actual aircraft will not be flown – only the advanced flight simulators. But clearly if F-16s are approved, this will form the basis of formal training on the jets.

  One of the main reasons for the hold-up in approving jets for Ukraine, apart from the fact that Russia is vowing severe and unpredictable escalation, is the significant time investment of the training, which could take at least a year or years.

  Colin Kahl, defense undersecretary for policy, recently told the House Armed Services Committee that the US has “not started training on F-16s” and that the delivery timeline is about 18 months. The training program for F-16s also happens to be about 18 months.

  “So you don’t actually save yourself time by starting the training early in our assessment,” said Kahl. “And since we haven’t made the decision to provide F-16’s and neither have our allies and partners, it doesn’t make sense to start to train them on a system they may never get.”

  So by all accounts, even if the Biden administration were to approve jets for Ukraine tomorrow, it could take years before they are piloted by Ukrainians in the skies of the conflict. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 18:00

• "Most Important Discovery In 21st Century": Archeologists Find Hidden Corridor In Great Pyramid Of Giza
  “Most Important Discovery In 21st Century”: Archeologists Find Hidden Corridor In Great Pyramid Of Giza

  Humans have spent centuries, if not longer, attempting to unlock the secrets of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramids at Giza, located just outside of Cairo. But with modern cosmic ray scanning technology, archaeologists have discovered a hidden passageway, Reuters reported. 

  Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced the discovery of the 30 feet in length and 6 feet wide corridor near the main entrance of the Pyramid of Khufu after a tiny snake camera was inserted through a crack. Speculation about the cavity behind the opening was first revealed via cosmic ray mapping in 2016.

  Want to see that endoscope glimpse into that “new” #GreatPyramid corridor? Of course you want to see that endoscope glimpse into the Great Pyramid chamber. 😉

  (Full @HIP_i_ #ScanPyramids 2023 Report video here: https://t.co/AmKNqZ8iJX) pic.twitter.com/1bhOiyQbbB

  — Jens Notroff (@jens2go) March 2, 2023

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  Waziri told reporters that the unfinished corridor was constructed to distribute the pyramid’s weight around the main entrance, which is now being used by tourists about 21 feet away. There’s the belief another chamber could lie beneath it. 

  “We’re going to continue our scanning so we will see what we can do … to figure out what we can find out beneath it, or just by the end of this corridor,” he said. 

  Former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass commented on the discovery of the secret passage:

  “This discovery, in my opinion, is the most important discovery in the 21st century.”

  Dr.#Zahi_Hawass to Announce More Groundbreaking Discoveries Soon
  Egypt’s Great Pyramid of #Giza #Europe..Let’s go😍
  welcome to #Egypt#France #Germany #Greece #Luxembourg #Maldives #Russia #Romania #Switzerland #United_Kingdom #United_States #Poland#Amsterdam #Japan #Argentina pic.twitter.com/bPPVy1deUz

  — 🇪🇬 KMK.EED 🇪🇬 (@kmkeed) March 4, 2023

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  As part of the Scan Pyramids project initiated in 2015, cosmic-ray mapping was utilized to uncover the mysteries within the seventh wonder of the ancient world. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 17:00

• Thank Goodness For Friday
  Thank Goodness For Friday

  By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

  TGFF

  Thank goodness for Friday. Or maybe I should just thank Bostic because his comments on Thursday seemed to turn the markets around.

  The view (presented in last week’s Surprise, Surprise and Acceptance Stage of Rate Hike Grief) that the market was getting tired of pricing in higher yields and dragging stocks down got off to an okay start, but it became pretty shaky in the middle of the week.

  The 10-year Treasury ended last week at 3.95% (it got as low as 3.89% before grinding steadily higher to 4.09% on Thursday). But TGFF because it recovered and closed basically unchanged on the week. Not a win as a bond bull, but I’ll take it.

  

  The S&P 500 followed a rate dependent path and things got a little hairy on Thursday when the S&P dipped below the 200 DMA (around 3,940). Ultimately Bostic seemed to help (along with too much bearishness). I believe that too many people were betting on more rate hikes and that caused yields to go higher (which in turn dragged stocks lower).

  As we head into this week:

  • I need to do a summary of Academy’s Second Annual Geopolitical Summit West. It was very well attended and the main conversation was driven by a combination of 4 Generals and an Admiral from our Geopolitical Intelligence Group. These individuals brought a wide variety of experience and expertise to the table. Russia, China, chips, commodities, and AI all took center stage. World War v3.1 is a good piece if you haven’t read it already and the February Around the World is also germane to these discussions.
  • It is “Jobs Week”. Not as entertaining as “Shark Week”, but at least we get to do it 12 times a year. Even some Fed speakers seem to be questioning whether the jobs data has been overstated. So, I’m looking for some weaker data, which should help bonds and stocks.
  • Rate hikes. The terminal rate is up to 5.44%. There is chatter that the Fed could raise rates 50 bps at the next meeting. The market is pricing in 1.25 hikes at the meeting, so I am leaning towards 25 bps, but I am giving 50 bps a chance. That seems like a reasonable assessment to me. Fed fund futures are pricing in only a small chance of any cuts this year. The year-end rate is 5.3% versus a terminal rate of 5.44%. That seems fair because our view has been that the Fed was serious about staying “higher for longer” all along. We’ve disagreed on the pace of hikes, but have not been looking for cuts as early as the market expects. From here, a lot seems to have been priced into the bond market (and theoretically the equity market), which should help bonds and stocks this week.
  • Stocks versus bonds. The 10-year finished unchanged, but stocks finished up 2%-3% (S&P vs Nasdaq). That is decent outperformance. From a technical standpoint, not only did the S&P 500 recover to the 200 DMA, but it is also back above the 50 DMA. I suspect that a lot of shorts got added because the market was sliding and exhibiting some technical weakness and that probably leaves us with a decent short base (which is susceptible to further squeezes). Stock performance last week should help stocks into this week.
  • Credit is looking strong! CDX IG (investment grade CDS index) tightened from 77 to 71 and never went much above 77, even with stocks swooning. CDX IG tends to be more correlated with stocks than other measures of credit quality. It’s a “macro fan favorite” to trade SPX vs CDX and many of the CDX market making algos are linked to the S&P 500. All that “jargon” just means that as we dig deeper, it is even more impressive how well CDX did compared to how it seemed on the surface. Even the Bloomberg Corporate Bonds spread went from 123 to 120 (peaking at 125). That occurred even with decent new issue activity. LQD, a longer-dated IG ETF which tracks bond markets in real-time better than the indices, went from a spread of 159 to 152 (though it did get to 166 at Wednesday’s close). It is important, at least to me, that it is trading at a premium to NAV because that typically indicates that there is more strength to come. Corporate credit was very strong and is poised to do very well on any slowing of the calendar! You could argue that this is part of a trend of re-allocating money out of stocks and into bonds, but I’m going with the “credit markets often lead the way” story and they are pointing to more potential strength for equities.
  • Temperance is good. This clearly has nothing to do with our Summit. It is, however, a reflection that any sign of cost controls out of tech is being rewarded with higher stock prices. This will hurt the economy and ultimately stocks (I don’t think the lows are in), but for now I expect more announcements since they are relatively easy to make (especially given how well the stocks respond).
  • 0DTE. Some people are addicted to the MOSO function on Bloomberg. Others laughed (or questioned my sanity) for writing A Day in the Life of a 0DTE Option. Many people followed our more serious writing on the topic in Is 4,000 More than a Number and Zero Dark Thirty. That being said, I’m convinced that 0DTE is changing our market structure in ways that are difficult to assess and it can dramatically amplify moves.

  Bottom Line

  I see no reason to change last week’s bottom line (accept for adding more on credit).

  Bonds can do well with the 10-year having a 3.7% target.

  Risk assets can do well with a 4,200 target for the S&P 500 and CDX IG heading towards 60 (the semi-annual roll should be another factor that helps push spreads tighter). If the new issue calendar remains robust, credit could lag for a bit. However, if there are any signs of issuance slowing, the rally should be strong.

  Despite the Summit starting on a day where San Diego was having worse weather than Chicago (the hail/30 mph winds made it an “experience”), the San Diego weather came through in the end!

  Good luck this week and jobs are going to be interesting. I’m more worried that the jobs data could be bad (downward revisions, etc.) than I am that the data will be too strong, though both of those extremes would hurt my position on risk assets.

  

  Maybe this Friday will give another reason to proclaim “Thank Goodness for Friday (TGFF)”!

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 16:30

• Fauci 'Prompted' Scientists To Fabricate 'Proximal Origins' Paper Ruling Out Lab-Leak: House GOP
  Fauci ‘Prompted’ Scientists To Fabricate ‘Proximal Origins’ Paper Ruling Out Lab-Leak: House GOP

  Dr. Anthony Fauci – who offshored banned gain-of-function research to make bat coronaviruses more transmissible to humans – has been accused by Congressional investigators of having ‘prompted’ the fabrication of a paper by a cadre of scientists aimed at disproving the Covid-19 lab-leak theory.

  

  On February 1, 2020, Fauci and his boss, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, and at least eleven other scientists participated in a conference call during which several of them warned that COVID-19 may have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China – may have been intentionally genetically manipulated.

  Three days after the call, four participants from the call (Scripps Research virologist Kristian Andersen, University of Sydney virologist Edward Holmes, Tulane School of Medicine virologist Robert Garry, University of Edinburgh virologist Andrew Rambaut and Columbia University virologist Ian Lipkin) seemingly discarded their concerns over a lab-leak, and drafted “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2,” which they sent to Fauci and Collins.

  Also heavily involved (yet not credited) was Dr. Jeremy Farrar, the current Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization.

  As a related aside – the Washington Examiner revealed last week that two authors of “Proximal Origin” who initially expressed concerns over a lab-leak and then changed their tune (Anderson and Garry), received millions in NIH grants under Fauci.

  Now, according to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Fauci ‘prompted’ the creation of the paper;

  “New evidence released by the Select Subcommittee today suggests that Dr. Fauci “prompted” the drafting of a publication that would “disprove” the lab leak theory, the authors of this paper skewed available evidence to achieve that goal, and Dr. Jeremy Farrar went uncredited despite significant involvement.”

  More:

  

  So, for those following the bouncing ball…

  The US was doing risky gain-of-function research on US soil until 2014, when the Obama administration banned it. Four months before the ban, Dr. Fauci offshored it to Wuhan, China through New York nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance.

  After Sars-CoV-2 broke out down the street from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Fauci engaged in a massive campaign to deny the possibility of a lab-leak from the lab he funded, and instead pin the blame on a yet-to-be discovered zoonotic intermediary species.

  And if you’d like to dig even deeper, this is perhaps the best, most comprehensive summary of the “proximal origin” timeline.

  Read the entire letter below:

  Further reading:

  • Fauci In 2012: Gain-Of-Function Research ‘Worth Risk Of Lab Accident Sparking Pandemic’

  • Fauci-Funded EcoHealth Refuses To Give Wuhan Documents To Congress

  • ‘EcoHealth Alliance’ Orchestrated Key Scientists’ Statement On “Natural Origin” Of SARS-CoV-2

  • Video Of Live Bats In Wuhan Lab Reveals Daszak Lied In Now-Deleted Tweet

  • “Sadly, It Starts With Two Lies”: Peter Daszak’s Latest Wuhan Screed Shredded

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 16:00

• Goldman: The Big Near-Term Risk Here Is If The Fed Opens Up 50s
  Goldman: The Big Near-Term Risk Here Is If The Fed Opens Up 50s

  By Tony Pasquariello,Goldman head of hedge fund coverage

  Coming out of a week that brought a somewhat uninspiring data set, yet interesting price action … and, headed into a very important week (payrolls, Powell and the BOJ) … What follows from here reflects the themes that come up in client conversations.

  My view in one line: rates should keep chopping higher, volatility is to be owned, and don’t get carried away on non-dollar trades.

  1. While not breaking news, and at the risk of serious over-reduction, I’d describe the core macro backdrop in 2023 as follows: US inflation has been stickier-than-expected; US growth has been stronger-than-expected.  To be clear, I’d stop short of describing the domestic economy as “running hot,” but the broad trend of the hard data would argue the US is generally chugging along (here I’d point you towards the recent jump in our US economic surprise index).  Taken together, this invites an obvious question on whether peak rates are, once again, still in front of us — it’s not a reach to say it, but my bet is they still are, particularly in the belly and back end.  

  

  2. The macro ecosystem I just described is NOT necessarily what many people expected as we came into the new year.  Remember, the consensus view centered around a messy first half, and there was plenty of recession talk as recently as early January. On one hand, it feels like that tactical opportunity set of higher front end rates, a stronger dollar and a rip in NDX wasn’t broadly captured (and, if one made money in January, they likely gave it back in February, or vice-versa). On the other hand, there are plenty of folks still seemingly content in adding to lower-risk carry strategies … 6-month T-bills are kicking off 5% yields right now (which now exceeds the carry on a 60/40 portfolio) and US 2-year notes are trading at levels not seen since 2007.  For further reading: link.  

  3. I received a lot of pushback last week on my comment that I think the back end of the US rates curve is vulnerable.  Here’s what I was trying to articulate (I should have just quoted Dominic Wilson directly): higher US rates along the curve is the direction of travel for now.  Why? The longer we live with a 5-handle on the terminal rate … and the US economy maintains broad momentum … the more evidence we have that the equilibrium rate is higher … so, the more likely it is the market contemplates seriously a 6-handle on the terminal rate … and therefore the harder it is to believe the Fed’s ~ 2.50% assumption for the neutral rate (which, one could argue, has anchored much of the curve).  related reading: link.

  4. Following from there, here’s one exceedingly simple way to frame things,. starting from the perspective that I have seen a Fed Funds rate north of 6% in my (Gen-X) career:

  • headline CPI, May 2000 :: 3.2%
  • target Fed Funds rate, May 2000 :: 6.5%
  • headline CPI, Feb 2023 :: 6.4%
  • target Fed Funds rate, Feb 2023 :: 4.5%

  5. Now, are there 444,000 distinctions between the global economy of today versus back then?  Yes.  So, one should only go so far with these compare-and-contrasts.  Nonetheless, from the cheap seats, it simply feels to me like parts of the market — and this Fed — are still too anchored to the post-GFC world.  Perhaps that’s not surprising, given that anyone who lived through the aftermath of 2008 has the experience hardwired into their DNA, but my point is this: shouldn’t we be increasingly open-minded to the argument that the post-GFC years were more an exception than a lasting new normal? 

  6. In that spirit, again I find the Jason Furman content on Twitter to be, if nothing else, cause for contemplation: “the economy is very overheated … we have made little if any progress on inflation … there is little if any reason to expect a large slowdown going forward … a wide range of measures of ‘underlying’ inflation are telling the same story … supply chains unfreezing were supposed to bring down inflation, they didn’t … 6% inflation is much more likely than 2%.”   I come out somewhere in-between his angle (link) our forecasts (link), with the ongoing intuition that inflation won’t magically disappear when the labor market is this tight. Related, I also admit that I’m surprised that breakevens took so long to get going again.

  7. A few additional takes on things from an informal exchange I had with Dominic Wilson in GIR:

  • i. I think Furman is overdoing it. 
  • ii. I think the big near-term risk here is if the Fed opens up 50s. If they don’t, I suspect markets can manage it.  If they do, we aren’t priced for it.  That’s overly reductive, but I think that’s the basic risk here.
  • iii. Near-term volatility pricing in lots of places looks too low given the event risk.  In under 3 weeks we get payrolls, US CPI, Powell, BOJ, ECB, Fed, BoE, China activity data and their Two Sessions policy meetings.  That data set could set us on potentially very different paths, but vol overall isn’t particularly high given this event risk in many places (Chinese equities; EUR; major DM indices) and there are pockets of vol (Topix with an 11-handle) that are low even on a long history. Options look cheap.

  8. A few additional takes on the week from an informal exchange I had with Mike Cahill in GIR:

  • i. The market pricing of 31 bps for the March FOMC (that will settle at 25 or 50 bps) is not a stable equilibrium.  Rather than quiet markets in a quiet week, it’s been jumpy markets clinging to every little piece of news (e.g. I haven’t seen Fed Funds respond to a durable goods report in a while).
  • ii. The global coordination is a clear difference between now and most of 2022, when US exceptionalism ruled the day and Europe and China were mired down with wars of their own. That makes things a lot trickier in FX land, but it probably all pushes in the same direction for rates.  
  • iii. Markets spent February mostly reversing the trends and narratives in January, so we’re close to unchanged since mid-Dec / early-Jan on a number of major asset classes.  But, one key thing hasn’t changed — as of now, the Fed is still locked into the 2-3 x 25 bps hikes pace that it established at the start of February.  Maybe they will say that things are still broadly on track, but that deserves a mention if you’re making a list of things that haven’t yet corrected for January’s exuberance.
  • iv. As it relates to point #3 up top on the neutral Fed Funds rate: so we’ve had (potentially) two distinct cycles: a too-low reading from 2012-2019 (the funds rate is low but the economy is weak — the neutral must be low) and a much higher reading now (we’ve hiked a lot but the economy hasn’t slowed — neutral must be high). Maybe the real answer though is that the economy, especially post-2008 housing crash, isn’t all that responsive to the funds rate.

  9. I still believe this is our most important, if distinct house view: “there appears to be some confusion about the phrase ‘long and variable lags,’ which actually referred to the time until the peak impact on the level of GDP, not the peak impact on the growth rate of GDP.  all prominent macroeconomic models that we are aware of agree with our FCI growth impulse model that the peak drag on GDP growth is frontloaded.  these points explain why our estimate of the drag on GDP growth from the tightening in financial conditions last year peaked in 2022H2 and fades fairly quickly in 2023.”  see exhibit 3, link.

  

  10. Switching gears a bit: I’m normally of the view that geopolitics are exceptionally difficult variables to consistently trade, and after the initial shock and shakeout, markets usually surprise in their ability to find coping mechanisms and become inured to the nightly news. That said, it feels to me like geopolitical tension is rising significantly right now — with growing risk of miscalculation — to an extent that seems greater than what I encounter in client dialogue.  I further admit I’m not totally sure what to do with this, particularly given my bias on interest rates, but it underscores Dominic’s take on the attractiveness of vol.

  11. Perhaps relevant to that last point: Europe has been the fastest horse in the global equity race this year, and it really hasn’t been close.  Alongside ongoing structural issues, the formal start of ECB QT and higher-than-expected inflation that’s lengthening the string of 50 bps rate hikes (we added another this week) I can easily see a scenario where a return of geopolitical worries knocks the momentum off course.  so, even as someone who respects the local draw of cheap relative valuation and a cyclical-heavy index, count me as skeptical that SX5E can hold this pace for the rest of the year. 

  12. As noted previously, the month of January saw record hedge fund buying of Chinese equities (this via GS PB data, link). Price action since then — across the entire China complex, including credit and commodities — was disappointing (until this week’s PMI boom, anyway). Looking forward, the big flow-of-funds question is this: What will strategic real money do with the Chinese equity market?  I’m inclined to believe they will be reticent to commit until the shareholder challenges of 2021 are long past us, which makes me worry about lasting and significant sponsorship (this may explain poor price action following decent earnings).  

  13. A non-sequitur: our industry devotes too much ink to the activity of the CTA community.  While admitting that I’m guilty of referencing this crowd, remember this level set: CTAs comprise about 8% of total hedge fund assets … in S&P futures, about 6% of total open interest … and — at peak activity — around 4% of daily volume (thanks to Paul Leyzerovich for the data).  I’m not saying that CTAs don’t matter — they do, and their footprint can be epically important at occasional market inflection points — I’m simply saying they get outsized attention relative to other market actors and fundamental forces.    

  14. In the context of higher interest rates, this note is a high quality check-down of some clear trends that are taking shape beneath the equity hood – for example, cyclical industrials and inflation winners/losers are doing what they should: link.    

  15. Finally, the annual Berkshire Hathaway letter is worth the quick read: link.  I reckon there’s a bit of wisdom in here:

  thus began our journey to 2023, a bumpy road involving a combination of continuous savings by our owners (that is, by their retaining earnings), the power of compounding, our avoidance of major mistakes and — most important of all — the American Tailwind … our satisfactory results have been the product of about a dozen truly good decisions — that would be about one every five years — and a sometimes-forgotten advantage that favors long-term investors. 

  More in the full note available to pro subs.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 15:30

• Court Strikes Down Biden's 'Ghost Gun Rule'
  Court Strikes Down Biden’s ‘Ghost Gun Rule’

  Defense Distributed’s Case in US District Court, VanDerStrok v. Garland was just granted a preliminary injunction. The lawsuit is challenging the scope of ATF’s ability to change the definition of firearms.

  According to court documents, ATF did not analyze their “Frame or Receiver Rule,” also known as Biden’s Ghost Gun Rule, under the Supreme Court’s NYSRPA v. Bruen decision.

  For those unaware, the Bruen decision completely changed the legal landscape of firearms law in the US by requiring statutes regulating firearms to be rooted in the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment.

  The Judge in the case concurred with the statement and granted Defense Distributed a preliminary injunction. The case now heads to the 5th Circuit, where ATF will have to defend its position.

  

  The 5th Circuit has recently ruled against the ATF in similar cases, including Cargill v. Garland. In that case, a panel of judges decided that ATF did not have the power to determine bump stocks were in fact machine guns contrary to ATF’s 2019 Bump Stock rule. That rule effectively banned bump stock devices by classifying them as machine guns.

  The decision in VanDerStok v. Garland could have major effects on the self-manufacturing of firearms and the ATF’s rulemaking and regulatory abilities as ATF has rewritten the federal statute to enforce their rulemaking. According to the court filings, the plaintiffs argue that only congress can rewrite federal statue to make law, not regulatory agencies like ATF.

  Defense Distributed had this to say:

  “This is not just a blow to ATF, who pushed a new definition of ‘firearm’ at their peril. It is also a defeat for Giffords, who were the agents of this illegal attempt to expand the Gun Control Act through the APA process. Their lobbying and regulatory laundry has now spectacularly backfired.”

  Defense Distributed has a history of victory against the Federal Government. In 2018, they won their case Defense Distributed v. US Dept. of State, effectively creating the current legal landscape with 3D-printed firearms and their respective CAD files shared online.

  Gun rights activists should watch this case as it goes through the courts.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 15:00

• Doctors, Scientists Call On Mississippi Officials To Take COVID Vaccines Off The Market
  Doctors, Scientists Call On Mississippi Officials To Take COVID Vaccines Off The Market

  Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  JACKSON, Miss.—The group of physicians, vaccine-injured people, and whistleblowers speaking at the Mississippi Capitol building on Monday and Tuesday weren’t asking state officials to cease all COVID-19 vaccinations and to convene a grand jury to investigate its rollout in the state.

  They were demanding it.

  “Stop the shots” was the refrain of those who had treated COVID patients over the last three years and those injured by the vaccine.

  On Monday and Tuesday, the medical freedom organization MS Against Mandates (MAM) held the Mississippi Medical Freedom Conference in Jackson, Mississippi, which included over a dozen physicians, several whistleblowers, six physician-confirmed vaccine-injured patients, and two parents whose sons died after receiving the vaccines.

  Dr. John Witcher is the co-founder and former president of MAM. He stepped back from the leadership position to focus on his run for Mississippi governor in the 2023 gubernatorial election.

  MAM orchestrated the event that gave a voice to many who are being silenced in media and the medical community, such as Dr. Peter McCullough, a practicing internist and cardiologist in Dallas who is also the national medical adviser for MAM.

  McCullough told The Epoch Times that the purpose of the three-and-a-half-hour roundtable—chaired by Republican state Rep. Randy Boyd—was primarily to educate Mississippi officials about safety concerns regarding the vaccine.

  “The state must pull these products off the market,” McCullough said. “There can be no more administration of the COVID-19 vaccines in the state of Mississippi.”

  McCullough, author of “The Courage to Face COVID-19: Preventing Hospitalization and Death While Battling the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex,” said the essential problem with the vaccines is the safety concern for the large number of people who have taken them without informed consent about adverse events.

  “The CDC now says 92 percent of Americans have taken at least one shot and that 79 percent have taken two shots,” McCullough said. “If there are safety concerns, that’s a problem because the denominator is so big.”

  Because of those large numbers, any rare side effect isn’t rare from a safety perspective and, as was heard in the testimonies, there are concerns that the state officials haven’t kept track of the full number of the injuries and has even undercounted them, McCullough said.

  In Mississippi, which represents under 1 percent of the U.S. population, McCullough estimated that there are several hundred people who have been injured by the vaccines and that some have died from the vaccines.

  “That’s several hundred too many, and it didn’t need to happen,” McCullough said. “None of this needed to happen.”

  Community Standard of Care

  Physicians like Witcher and others on the panel have reported that their state health officials have only recited federal talking points instead of allowing them to cultivate what McCullough called their own “community standard-of-care,” which McCullough said is intended to evolve over time.

  “The community standard of care always comes from the doctors who are treating the patients,” McCullough said. “Under no circumstances does it come from federal or state agencies, pharmaceutical companies, or even from hospitals or hospital systems. It comes from the doctors in the field who are learning how to treat their patients based on the medical literature, clinical judgment, and the differences in the community.”

  This is why McCullough said each state needs its own doctor-in-charge, like in Florida, where Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has refuted federal guidelines handed down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Dr. Anthony Fauci when he was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

  “We’re seeing how valuable it is for a state to have its own independent thinker who is not biased, influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, or influenced by any state or federal public health agency,” McCullough said.

  A doctor-in-charge in Mississippi would have acted as the representative for state officials to hear the testimonies given in the state Capitol on Monday, McCullough said.

  “The state of Mississippi needs an independent thinker who can attend medical panels like this, take them under consideration, and provide advising to the attorney general,” McCullough said. “In this case, it would be to get the vaccines off the market.”

  If Witcher were to become governor, he said he would create a position for a state surgeon general, and McCullough said he would “entertain the appointment as a doctor and a public figure.”

  Noticeably, the Capitol chamber where the roundtable convened was absent of lawmakers—aside from Boyd—which McCullough said wasn’t surprising, as he’s seen it “over and over again.”

  “The fear among legislators on both the state and federal levels is extraordinary,” McCullough said. “This is the biggest thing that’s happened to our country over the last three years in modern history and you’d think they’d be interested to hear from doctors who traveled from far distances and who have vast experience in this. It’s not for my benefit. It’s for their benefit, and it’s extremely disappointing that they found something else that they thought was a higher priority.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 14:30

• Employers Frequently Overlook Resumes Which Include "They/Them" Pronouns
  Employers Frequently Overlook Resumes Which Include “They/Them” Pronouns

  One of the apocryphal conspiracy theories floated in recent years is that the establishment’s – and corporate America’s – fascination with pushing an LGBTQ agenda while minimizing (and in some cases openly ridiculing) traditional family-focused Judeo-Christian values, is that this is a core spoke of the World Economic Forum’s great reset. After all, what easier way to “depopulate” the world (as World Economic Forum participant Jane Goodall famously suggested in 2020 when she said “we can solve all the world’s problems if we reduce the world population to where it was 500 years ago”, at the 27 minute mark of the linked video) than to convince hundreds of millions to pair with a member of the same sex and thus avoid having children. One certainly wouldn’t need World War 3 or even a global viral pandemic to achieve a depopulation outcome if enough people are L, G, B, T, Q, “they/them” and so on (at last check, over 7% of the US population now identifies as LGBTQ). One just has to wait a generation.

  There now appears to be another potential twist to this: it appears that workers who identify as the cool du jour pronoun pair of “they/them” are being systematically ignored by potential employers, and face far fewer job offers compared to their less pronoun-sensitive peers.

  According to a new report from Business.com, a business resource platform, over 80% of nonbinary people believe that identifying as nonbinary would hurt their job search. Similarly, 51% believe their gender identity has affected their workplace experience “very or somewhat negatively.” Why? Well, for those confused, a quick reminder: the Biden admin’s “non-binary” hero is – or rather was – none other than Sam Britton, who worked as a nuclear engineer, or technically “deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy”, at least until it was revealed that he is a pathological liar and kleptomaniac with a penchant for stealing other people’s suitcases (and then wearing stolen female clothing). Clearly a person with zero mental issues and pristine decision-making skills. In any case, Britton lost his job recently after his crimes were exposed, prompting a cascade a question about the mental stability of the “they/them” cohort.

  

  Which is why even though Ryan McGonagill, director of industry research at Business.com and author of the report, said that the latest statistics show just how much “inclusive” work there is to do…

  “We clearly have more work to do on several fronts. Over the past 10 years, DEIB efforts have been prioritized by many companies; however, the results of this study and past research show that teams in most industries aren’t proportionately representative of the U.S. population,” McGonagill tells CNBC Make It. “And worse, many people (like the nonbinary individuals we spoke with in our research) feel like they don’t belong.”

  … perhaps employers have it right?

  Rhetorical questions aside, CNBC notes that Business.com also went a step further by sending two identical phantom resumes to “180 unique job postings that were explicitly open to entry-level candidates” in an effort to test “whether or not the inclusion of gender-neutral pronouns impacts how employers perceive resumes.”

  “Both featured a gender-ambiguous name, ‘Taylor Williams.’ The only difference between the test and control resumes was the presence of gender pronouns on the test version,” McGonagill said in the report. “The test resume included “they/them” pronouns under the name in the header.” She/her and he/him pronouns were not tested.

  The phantom resume including pronouns received 8% less interest than the one without, and fewer interview and phone screening invitations.

  According to the report, over 64% of the companies that received these resumes were Equal Opportunity Employers, something that made the results even more “worrisome.”

  “The law makes it clear that you cannot base any employment decision (hiring, terminating, or otherwise) based on their gender identity,” McGonagill says. “It’s incredibly disappointing and unethical that many of the hiring managers in our study would disqualify a candidate for being authentic.”

  What is probably funnier, although it wasn’t analyzed, is that most of those hiring managers who overlooked the “they/them” stack also happen to be the most vocal virtue-signaling supporters of LGBTQ rights…. just not when it comes to their own company. In other words, a classic case of employment NIMBY: please hire all these wonderful folks… just don’t make me hire them.

  “It’s incredibly disappointing and unethical that many of the hiring managers in our study would disqualify a candidate for being authentic” said McGonagill. Oh, if only Ryan knew just how unethical some of the most vocal virtue-signalers are, he would be in a state of permanent shock. As for being “authentic”… well, there is this thing called Darwinian selection. If enough people realize that identifying as a “they/them” is not all that cool, perhaps we will finally have some return to normalcy after progressive identify politics have pushed society to the verge of collapse. Just like what better way to solve society’s overpopulation problem than by encouraging the young and easily impressionable to join the growing LGBTQ cohort and avoid having any children. End result: widespread depopulation, just next generation not this one.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 03/05/2023 – 14:25

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• San Francisco 'Opens The Door' To Supervised Drug Consumption Sites
  San Francisco ‘Opens The Door’ To Supervised Drug Consumption Sites

  Authored by Brad Jones via The Epoch Times,

  Supervised drug consumption sites may be coming to San Francisco despite California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of legislation with a similar plan by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) last year and widespread opposition to the idea.

  

  The San Francisco County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on Feb. 28 to allow nonprofit groups to run supervised injection sites with private funding. Because ordinances require two readings, the supervisors will cast their final vote on March 7.

  San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen introduced the proposal last month to abolish “a recently identified permitting barrier” to proceed with an overdose prevention plan – while the City awaits federal guidance on whether or not it can legally fund such programs with taxpayer dollars, the mayor said in a statement.

  The legislation “opens the door for non-profits to operate drug overdose prevention sites in San Francisco,” according to the press release.

  

  San Francisco city hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Feb. 23, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

  The drug crisis in San Francisco has killed nearly 2,000 people since 2020, and the city’s infamous Tenderloin district is known to be a hotspot for illicit drug deals.

  “This legislation is part of our work to bring down the number of fatal overdoses and tackle the challenges driven by fentanyl head on,” Breed said.

  “We will continue to work with our non-profits partners who are trying to open overdose prevention sites, fully implement our health strategies to help those struggling with addiction in our streets, and work with law enforcement to close the open-air drug markets.”

  Ronen said San Francisco needs overdose prevention sites to save lives and “solutions to open-air drug use and chaotic conditions on the streets.”

  ‘Negative Impacts’

  Jacqui Berlinn, co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Deaths, whose son is addicted to fentanyl, said she opposes the creation of so-called safe injection sites.

  Berlinn told the Epoch Times via text message on March 2 that the supervisors haven’t done their due diligence to research and visit safe injection sites in New York City and Vancouver to see “the negative impacts” they’ve have had on surrounding communities.

  “It’s also important to talk to community members, as well as those with substance use disorders and the people who love them,” she said.

  “Governor Newsom understood this when he vetoed Senate Bill 57 last year. The [San Francisco Board of Supervisors] incorrectly believes they know better even after witnessing the abject failure of the Linkage Center in [the Tenderloin district].”

  

  The Tenderloin Center for the homeless in San Francisco. (Courtesy of the City of San Francisco)

  The Tenderloin Linkage Center, which provides services to the homeless, last year dropped the word “linkage” from its name after very few people were linked to drug recovery services and other programs connected with the site.

  Wiener’s Senate Bill 57 would have permitted the creation of overdose prevention programs, including safe injection sites, where addicts could use illegal drugs at supervised facilities in Oakland and cities in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties.

  “The unlimited number of safe injection sites that this bill would authorize—facilities which would authorize well into the later part of this decade—could induce a world of unintended consequences,” Newsom said in his veto message on Aug. 22.

  While “it is possible that these sites would help improve the safety and health of our urban areas,” the chance they could fail and make California’s drug problem worse “is not a risk we can take,” Newsom said in his veto message in September.

  

  Homeless people gather near drug dealers in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

  Newsom said at the time he would be open to discussion with local officials to come back to the table with a proposal for a “truly limited pilot program” and “comprehensive plans for siting, operations, community partnerships, and fiscal sustainability that demonstrate how these programs will be run safely and effectively.”

  City Takes Matter ‘Into Its Own Hands’

  Wiener issued a statement on Aug. 22 saying the veto was “tragic.”

  “With two successive Governors vetoing this bill, it’s crystal clear the State isn’t going to step up. San Francisco needs to take matters into its own hands & open up safe consumption sites to save lives,” Wiener wrote on Twitter.

  But, Berlinn disagrees.

  “The leaders of the city need to prioritize treatment and recovery before implementing sites like these that only perpetuate the open-air drug markets,” she said.

  “San Francisco can’t even keep the area in front of methadone clinics clear of drug dealers and users. My own son has to walk through this toxic environment every day that he goes to the clinic for his treatment. He is actively trying to get well and free from his addiction, but the city isn’t able to keep the route to these clinics safe.”

  

  Members of Mothers Against Drug Deaths hold a chain of posters in front of the Tenderloin Linkage Center in San Francisco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Cynthia Cai/The Epoch Times)

  Recently, Berlinn helped form a new group called North America Recovers, a nonpartisan coalition of more than 20 American and Canadian community leaders, parents of the homeless, and recovering addicts seeking federal, state, and local actions that “support addiction recovery—not addiction enablement,” including untreated mental illness and homelessness.

  Federal and state laws currently prohibit supervised injection sites from using government funds to operate. San Francisco’s 2020 ordinance would allow them, but only with state approval which the city has—so far—failed to achieve.

  In 2021, New York established a privately funded overdose prevention site which allows addicts to bring illegal drugs such as fentanyl and heroin and use them under the supervision of trained staff. They also provide counseling.

  “The opioid epidemic continues to take an immense toll on our City and claim the lives of far too many San Franciscans,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement. “To save lives, I continue to support a non-profit moving forward with New York City’s model of overdose prevention centers. Repealing this ordinance is one step towards that goal.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 23:30

• The Global Internet Kill Switch
  The Global Internet Kill Switch

  The global number of internet shutdowns has been rising again for the second year in a row.

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, a newly released report by Access Now puts the number of internet shutdowns in 2022 at 187. Just under half – 84 – happened in India…

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  In the year of 2020, the number of internet shutdowns dipped.

  Many government use internet shutdowns in connection with curbing protests and dissent and the pandemic likely caused fewer of these events to happen as stay-at-home orders were issued and limits on gatherings were imposed.

  The highest number of internet shutdowns since reporting started in 2016 was reached in 2019 at 213. The same year also saw the highest figure of internet shutdowns in India – 121. Despite the country consistently registering the most internet shutdowns since the inception of the survey, 2022 saw India’s share in total global internet shutdowns decrease to the lowest point in years. Simultaneously, the total number of countries which employ internet shutdowns has risen, surpassing the 2019 number again as of 2021.

  Shutdowns in India clustered in Kashmir in 2022, but also in Rajasthan, where they have been used during protests (and preemptively when protests were expected), but also during exams in recent months. Both regions have seen violence often tied to tension between Hindus and Muslims, in Kashmir also in connection with the Muslim-led independence movement.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 23:00

• The Attack Of The Subversive Elites
  The Attack Of The Subversive Elites

  Authored by Michael Rectenwald via The Mises Institute,

  It is tempting, as Naomi Wolf has done recently, to ascribe the breakdown of Western civilization to the debasing of “Judeo-Christian” ethics and the reemergence of malignant supernatural forces. Witnessing the many assaults on the infrastructure and social order of the United States of late, I wouldn’t rule out metaphysical causality either. But to blame the pagan gods, or, in specifically Christian terms, to blame Satan, and not his legions, is to take comfort in an obscured perspective on the current global arrangement. To lay culpability strictly on gaseous, unknowable forces is to let the global elite off the hook.

  

  As I write in The Great Reset and the Struggle for Liberty, the Western world is in the grips and under the control of “subversive elites.” With inordinate power and influence, these people aren’t naturally superior but have as their object the undermining of Western civilization.

  They can be found in such globalist “Round Table” organizations as the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, the Club of Rome, and the World Economic Forum (WEF); in their main international intergovernmental counterpart, the United Nations (UN); and in the monetary organizations that fund the globalist regime, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. All these organizations have had as their objective the undermining of nation states, the destruction of the free market, and the control of the world economic system by a globalist elite. These objectives are now being conducted under the rubric of “stakeholder capitalism,” with the WEF running interference for and coordinating the “public-private partnerships” that are ushering in stakeholder capitalism, supposedly to combat “climate change.”

  In the economic sphere, stakeholder capitalism is a cartel scheme that benefits the compliant and destroys the noncompliant. And the economics of stakeholder capitalism spill into a governance and geopoliti­cal model: states and favored corporations in “pub­lic-private partnerships” in control of governance. The configuration yields a corporate-state hybrid largely unaccountable to the constituents of national governments. As Kurt Nimmo writes:

  According to the Transnational Institute in the Netherlands, this “initiative” proposes a transition away from intergovernmental decision-making towards a system of multi-stakeholder governance. In other words, by stealth, they are marginalising a recognised model where we vote in governments who then negotiate treaties which are then ratified by our elected representatives with a model where a self-selected group of “stakeholders” make decisions on our behalf. (emphasis added)

  The cozy relationship between multinational corporations and governments has even aroused the scorn of a few leftist academics. Some note that the UN-WEF partnership and the governance model of the WEF represent at least the privatization of the UN’s Agenda 2030, with the WEF bringing corporate partners, money, and supposed expertise on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4-IR) to the table. And the WEF’s governance model extends well beyond the UN, affecting the constitution and behavior of governments worldwide. This usurpation has led political scientist Ivan Wecke to call the WEF’s governmental redesign of the world system “a corporate takeover of global governance.”

  This is true, but the WEF model also represents the governmentalization of private industry. Un­der Schwab’s stakeholder capitalism and the mul­tistakeholder governance model, governance is not only increasingly privatized, but also and more im­portantly, corporations are deputized as major addi­tions to governments and intergovernmental bodies. The state is thereby extended, enhanced, and aug­mented by the addition of enormous corporate as­sets. These include funding directed at “sustainable development” to the exclusion of the noncompliant as well as the use of Big Data, artificial intelligence, and 5G to monitor and control citizens.

  But first the conditions for global government must be established and these conditions include the breakdown of national sovereignty, the abrogation of natural rights, and the reduction of the standard of living of the vast majority.

  “Affluence,” writes Sean Fleming for the WEF, “is the biggest threat to our world. . . . True sustainability will only be achieved through drastic lifestyle changes.”

  Thus, these elites are not only subversive but also destructive. It is difficult to conclude that the many recent assaults on the infrastructure of the US are anything but part of a coordinated campaign to destroy productive capacities and terrorize the population. Consider the use of vaccine mandates to choke supply chains, the multiple train derailments and chemical bombs, the undetonated bombs on railroad tracks, the mysterious explosions at metals plants and oil facilities, the “coincidental” fires at food processing facilities and chicken egg farms, the hazardous materials explosions in public transportation facilities, the shutdown of a major baby formula production lab, etc.

  Consider these in connection with the operations of cultural, social, and political demoralization—the covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates, the quasi-endorsed Black Lives Matter–Antifa riots, the election legerdemain, the January 6 show trials, the unfettered immigration, the foisting of the transgender movement and critical race theory on elementary school students, the differential treatment of crime along political lines (with the apparent rewarding of criminals carrying out subversive acts and the imprisonment of those who merely protest the regime)—and the effect is a politicized anarcho-tyranny unleashed on the populace. Do not all these phenomena have the common effect of producing social and economic insecurity and learned helplessness, while cowing any political opposition into submission?

  Yet it is essentially impossible to prove that a coordinated campaign by subversive elites is afoot. As internal Twitter documents made available to the public in December reveal, one of the most powerful communications and ideological apparatuses on earth had gone to great lengths to snuff out and filter the visibility of any story that might provide a window into the coordination of the new world order.

  If, however, as Pareto suggested, a governing elite is inevitable, then, as Jeff Deist has argued, we are certainly under the wrong elites. Whether a circulation of elites can be completed in time to save the world economic system from ruin and the majority from destitution and veritable slavery is a question of no little urgency.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 22:30

• These Are The Most (And Least) Expensive Cities To Live In
  These Are The Most (And Least) Expensive Cities To Live In

  There are many benefits to living in an iconic city like New York or Singapore, but the amenities and exclusivity can come at a high cost.

  As Visual Capitalist’s Avery Koop details below, cities become “expensive” due to a variety of factors such as high demand for housing, a concentration of high-paying businesses and industries, and a high standard of living. Additionally, factors such as taxes, transportation costs, and availability of goods and services can also contribute to the overall cost of living in global cities.

  

  The infographic above uses data from EIU to rank the world most and least expensive cities to live in. To make the list, the EIU examines 400+ prices for over 200 products and services in 172 cities, surveying a variety of businesses to track price fluctuations over the last year.

  Inflation + Strong Currency = Expensive Cities

  If you live in a city where many residents find it challenging to put a roof over their heads, food on their plates, and make ends meet, you live in an expensive city.

  But if this inflation is compounded with a strong national currency, you may live in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

  

  Singapore and New York City tied for the first rank amongst the world’s most expensive cities in 2022, pushing Israel’s Tel Aviv from the first place in 2021 to the third place in 2022. Both these cities had high inflation and a strong currency. Surprisingly, this is the Big Apple’s first time atop the ranking.

  The city with one of the most expensive real estate markets worldwide, Hong Kong ranked fourth in this list, followed by Los Angeles, which moved up from its ninth rank in 2021.

  Poor Economies = Cheaper Cities

  Asia continues to dominate the list of the world’s least expensive cities, followed by parts of North Africa and the Middle East. Though affordability sounds good at face value, sitting at the bottom of the ranking isn’t necessarily a coveted position.

  While the cost of living in some of the cities in these nations is low, it comes at the price of a weak currency, poor economy, and, in many cases, political and economic turmoil.

  

  The decade-long conflict in Syria weakened the Syrian pound, led to a spiraling inflation and fuel shortages, and further collapsed its economy. It’s no surprise that its capital city of Damascus has maintained its position as the world’s cheapest city.

  Tripoli and Tehran, the capitals of Libya and Iran, respectively, follow next on this list, reflecting their weakened economies.

  Meanwhile, seven cities in Asia with the common denominator of high-income inequality and low wages dominate the list of the world’s cheapest cities. These include three Indian cities, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Pakistan’s most populous city of Karachi, and Sri Lankan capital–Colombo.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 22:00

• Trump Promises "Quantum Leap" For A New America
  Trump Promises “Quantum Leap” For A New America

  Authored by Naveen Anthrapully via The Epoch Times,

  Former President Donald Trump has revealed his dream for a new America ahead of the 2024 presidential race, promising to bring back the country’s boldness “in a very big way” and heralding a “quantum leap” in living standards.

  “Past generations of Americans pursued big dreams and daring projects that once seemed absolutely impossible. They pushed across an unsettled continent and built new cities in the wild frontier. They transformed American life with the interstate highway system, magnificent it was, and they launched a vast network of satellites into orbit all around the earth. But today, our country has lost its boldness. Under my leadership, we will get it back in a very big way,” Trump said in a video address released Friday.

  “If you look at just three years ago, what we were doing was unthinkable. How good it was, how great it was for our country. Our objective will be a quantum leap in the American standard of living. That’s what will happen.”

  Pointing out that a third of the American landmass is owned by the federal government, Trump noted that just a “very small portion of that land” amounting to “one-half of one percent” can be used to hold a contest to “charter up to 10 new cities and award them to the best proposals for development.”

  “In other words, we’ll actually build new cities in our country again. These Freedom Cities will reopen the frontier, reignite American imagination, and give hundreds of thousands of young people and other people, all hard-working families, a new shot at home ownership and in fact the American dream.”

  Transportation, Manufacturing

  A “big opportunity” that Trump cites in the video is in the transportation sector. In the United States and China, numerous companies are “racing” to develop vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.

  In the last century, it was the United States that led the automotive revolution. “I want to ensure that America, not China, leads the revolution in air mobility. These breakthroughs can transform commerce, bring a giant infusion of wealth into rural America, and connect families in our country in new ways,” Trump said.

  An American company engaged in vertical takeoff vehicle development is California-based Wisk. Last January, Wisk announced that it had secured $450 million in funding from Boeing.

  In August, San Jose-based Archer Aviation received a $10 million deposit from United Airlines for an order of 100 electric takeoff and landing air taxis.

  Trump also proposed a “strategic national manufacturing initiative” that will turn “forgotten communities into hives of industry.” This will ensure that these communities produce goods that the United States will no longer have to import from China. The initiative is going to be “very, very successful.”

  The American manufacturing sector is currently struggling through various challenges like inflation, talent scarcity, supply chain problems, and economic uncertainty.

  “Manufacturers continue to grapple with talent challenges that may limit the industry’s growth momentum. Moreover, supply-chain issues, including sourcing bottlenecks, global logistics backlogs, cost pressures, and cyberattacks, will likely remain critical challenges in 2023,” Deloitte said in its 2023 manufacturing outlook report.

  Lowering Costs, Other Initiatives

  Trump also promised to introduce a “major initiative” to lower the cost of living, especially focusing on reducing the cost of a new car and the cost of building single-family homes.

  Annual inflation has remained above 6 percent every single month since October 2021. New vehicle inflation has remained above 5 percent every month since June 2021.

  The median sales price of homes in the country hit $467,000 in the fourth quarter, up 10. 4 percent from the same period a year back. The United States is estimated to be facing a shortage of 3.8 million to 5 million homes.

  Trump also intends to ask Congress to support “baby bonuses” for young parents, a move he hopes will trigger a “baby boom.”

  He promised to carry out a “great modernization and beautification campaign” in 50 states that will get rid of ugly buildings, refurbish public spaces and parks, ensure a pristine environment, make cities and towns more livable, and build “towering monuments to our true American heroes.”

  “Very importantly, I will also make sure all of these new places are safe. We love and cherish our police. They will do the job the way they have to,” Trump said.

  “It is time to start talking about greatness for our country again. I will dramatically increase living standards and build a future that brings our country together through excitement, opportunity, and success.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 21:30

• WHO Urges Countries To Reveal Intel On COVID Origins After FBI Director's Statements
  WHO Urges Countries To Reveal Intel On COVID Origins After FBI Director’s Statements

  Following the dramatic narrative shift on Covid origins by US authorities, the World Health Organization is asking any governments with intelligence on the virus’ origins to come forward and present their information. 

  “If any country has information about the origins of the pandemic, it’s essential for that information to be shared with WHO and the international scientific community,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday, coming quickly on the heels of FBI Director Christopher Wray saying this week that the source of the pandemic was “most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan”.

  

  The WHO chief said further, “Not so as to apportion blame but to advance our understanding of how this pandemic started, so we can prevent, prepare for and respond to future epidemics and pandemics.”

  “WHO continues to call for [China] to be transparent in sharing data and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results. To that effect, I have written to, and spoken with, high-level Chinese leaders on multiple occasions, as recently as just a few weeks ago.”

  Tedros also stressed, and not for the first time, that “Until then, all hypotheses on the origins of the virus remain on the table.”

  Though of course, it’s highly doubtful that Beijing will be feeling any real pressure as a result of this very much belated statement. It’s important to recall how he spent the early months of the pandemic publicly kowtowing to China.

  The WHO came under heavy fire early into the pandemic for praising China’s “transparent” response to the pandemic, repeating misinformation from Beijing related to human-to-human transmission, and bowing to pressure from Chinese President Xi Jinping not to declare the Covid-19 outbreak an emergency.

  The FBI has assessed that a leak from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan likely caused the COVID pandemic, director Christopher Wray said, a claim China said had ‘no credibility whatsoever’ https://t.co/1IGah4j2SH pic.twitter.com/5zg0qVzHzL

  — Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Yet, while initially promoting the natural origin theory, Tedros and the WHO have reportedly become far more ‘open’ to the lab leak theory as time has passed.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 21:00

• Snowed-In And Terrified: Trapped California Mountain Residents Plea For Help
  Snowed-In And Terrified: Trapped California Mountain Residents Plea For Help

  Authored by Jamie Joseph via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The historic storm that swept through California over the last week—prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency March 1—has passed.

  

  But for residents living in San Bernardino Mountain communities, the nightmare has only just begun, as many remain snowed in rationing food, medications, water, and heat.

  “I can’t even walk 50 feet because it’s up to my shoulders,” Lake Arrowhead resident Becky Gardner told The Epoch Times.

  

  Gardner said she panicked when she saw pictures on social media of some locals spending hours digging out snow from on-top gas meters to prevent gas leaks. Melting snow, experts say, can block a vent on a meter’s regulator disrupting gas pressure which could lead to a fire or explosion.

  The San Bernardino County Fire Department advised residents to do so if they can get to their meters safely, according to a March 2 post on Twitter.

  Gardner said she is concerned for her elderly neighbors, who have also been stuck inside for over a week. With uncertainty of when roads will be cleared, she said she is preparing to save her last logs of wood for her fireplace.

  Like Gardner, anxiety and frustration have been mounting for some residents who remain trapped.

  “It’s been about 10 days,” Lake Arrowhead resident Casey McLelland told The Epoch Times.

  McLelland said the family has lived in the area since the 1970s and they say they’ve never seen anything like this.

  “This is truly, truly one of a kind,” she said.

  

  She said her 90-year-old grandmother, who lives across town by herself, is out of medication for her arthritis and has been without heat since last night.

  She said she is losing hope and has lost track of time.

  “If you have a life or death emergency right now, more than likely you’re going to die,” she said. “I’m not trying to be dire or dramatic, but that’s kind of where it’s at this moment, because even if a fire department gets the call, they can’t get to you,” she said.

  According to the National Weather Service, Lake Arrowhead received more than 8 feet of snow over the last week. Normally, the region accumulates around 13 feet of snow each year.

  Since the most recent storm, San Bernardino County crews have been working to clear roads as fast as possible and deliver much-needed essentials to desperately trapped residents and visitors.

  “They’re all doing the same mission,” San Bernardino Cal Fire spokesperson Allison Hester Lee Told The Epoch Times.

  According to Lee, crews are prioritizing locations to clear first based on callers who are without food or water, or have a life-threatening emergency.

  Nearby Twin Peaks was hit the hardest. According to county officials, they received nearly 800 calls for help during the storm and now in its aftermath—the most for the entire San Bernardino mountain region.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 20:30

• Residents Told To Shelter In Place After Norfolk Southern Freight Train Derails In Ohio
  Residents Told To Shelter In Place After Norfolk Southern Freight Train Derails In Ohio

  Another Norfolk Southern freight train has derailed in Ohio. 

  “The Clark County Emergency Management Agency is asking residents within 1,000 feet of a train derailment at Ohio 41 near the Prime Ohio Business Park to shelter-in-place out of an abundance of caution,” the county wrote in a Facebook post. 

  

  The post continued, “We ask that all residents in need of travel to Ohio 41 find alternate routes. Local and state officials are on scene, including the Springfield Fire Rescue Division and the Springfield Police Department.” 

  The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported 20 railcars of a 212-car Norfolk Southern freight train derailed while traveling southbound in Springfield.

  A video shows the moment the freight train derailed. 

  🚨#BREAKING: Hazmats crews are heading massive train derailment site with residence told to shelter in place

  📌#Springfield | #Ohio

  Currently A larger emergency response along with hazmat crews are underway to a massive train derailment in Springfield, Ohio where approximately… https://t.co/reKZVZdr6Q pic.twitter.com/Wupxv1oDo9

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 5, 2023

  A drone video reveals a variety of railcars, such as boxcars, hopper wagons, and what appear to be tanker cars, were involved in the derailment. 

  SPRINGFIELD, OHIO — New reports of power outages following a Norfolk Southern train derailment.

  Officials urging residents to “shelter in place,” and to avoid the area due to unknown materials, possibly chemical. pic.twitter.com/UZgyQS0TpO

  — Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 5, 2023

  Huge train derailment in Springfield near State Route 41 at Clark County Fairgrounds near main entrance#train #trainderailment #clarkcounty #springfield #ohio #breakingnews #breaking pic.twitter.com/xqbjeAAebt

  — Crime With Bobby (@crimewithbobby) March 4, 2023

  🚨#UPDATE: Norfolk Southern Railway says it’s currently sending crews to clean up the large train derailment in Springfield, Ohio. With Nearby residents ordered to shelter in place. Reports are saying there are no hazmat cars involved in the derailment pic.twitter.com/Qafw3tQMdY

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 5, 2023

  Local media reported that a hazmat crew had arrived at the incident area. 

  BREAKING: Hazmat team on the way after train derails in Springfield, OH.

  Let’s hope this doesn’t become another East Palestine incident.pic.twitter.com/cqhi1NPnnZ

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 5, 2023

  Clean-up operations by Norfolk Southern crews are expected soon. 

  Saturday’s train derailment occurred one month after the train crash in East Palestine. 

  … and this aged well. 

  Lol. Sure Pete🤣. Another train derailed in Ohio today and residents are sheltering in place. Guess you won’t be visiting there for at least 3 weeks just like last time 🤡

  — Jeanne Ann Farrell (@JeanneAnnFarre2) March 5, 2023

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 20:15

• Another FBI Whistleblower Says He Was Forced To Inflate Domestic Terrorism Numbers
  Another FBI Whistleblower Says He Was Forced To Inflate Domestic Terrorism Numbers

  Another FBI whistleblower has stepped forward to tell the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Federal Government that the agency had him boost domestic terrorism figures by dividing cases into multiple subdivisions.

  

  FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle from the Kansas City field office told Congressional investigators that the agency had him divide a single domestic terrorism case into “four different cases,” so that the FBI could go to Congress and say “look at all the domestic terrorism we’ve investigated,” Fox News reports.

  “Where, really, I was working on one case,” O’Boyle continued. “But, the FBI can then say, well, he actually had four, and so we need you to give us more money because look at how big of a threat all this domestic terrorism is.“

  He also said that the FBI created a specific threat tag for pro-lifers “THREATSCOTUS2022” amid the leak of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center – as opposed to the raging pro-abortionists nationwide.

  According to O’Boyle, the threat tag was shifted and “began focusing on pro-life adherence.”

  “When this threat tag came out, it was like, why are you focusing on pro-life people?” he said in an interview reviewed by Fox News. “It’s pro-choice people who are the ones protesting or otherwise threatening violence in front of Supreme Court justices’ houses.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 20:00

• States Can Break Through Pharma's Liability Shield
  States Can Break Through Pharma’s Liability Shield

  Via The Brownstone Institute,

  Legislators in Arkansas have a simple question before them: if pharmaceutical executives deliberately withhold knowledge of a product’s adverse effects, should they be criminally liable if patients suffer serious harm from the product?

  

  The federal government effectively sold the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial to the largest lobbying force in the country. 

  A primary purpose of the Seventh Amendment was to prevent powerful forces from warping the legal system to protect themselves. The convergence of the pharmaceutical industry and our federal government, outlined in the previous article, sacrificed this constitutional right for a corporate liability shield. 

  Now, it is largely up to state legislatures to restore citizens’ rights against the state-subsidized pharmaceutical companies that rake in billions from their Covid products.

  In Arkansas, Senate Bill 8 would make it criminal for pharmaceutical executives to knowingly hide, conceal, or withhold information regarding a medical product’s adverse effects if the product results in death or serious injury. 

  The Arkansas GOP can enact this legislation without making concessions. Republicans outnumber Democrats 82 to 18 in the State House of Representatives and 29 to 6 in the State Senate. 

  Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for a “new generation of Republican leadership” in her response to the 2023 State of the Union. She boasted that she had “repealed COVID orders and said never again to authoritarian mandates and shutdowns.”

  Mandates have been lucrative for Big Pharma. Covid products accounted for more than half of Pfizer’s record $100 billion in revenue in 2022. These companies received the benefit of taxpayer funding without the risk of legal liability.. 

  Now, Governor Sanders can have her state lead by example by demanding accountability for harm, misdeeds, and deception from our country’s most powerful corporate forces.

  Overcoming Big Pharma’s P.R. Campaigns

  The pharmaceutical industry has dedicated billions of dollars to marketing and lobbying to combat its history of unjustment enrichment, fraud, and criminal pleas. 

  The largest companies dedicate more spending to brand management than to researching and developing drugs. In 2020, Pfizer spent $12 billion on sales and marketing and $9 billion on R&D. That year, Johnson & Johnson devoted $22 billion to sales and marketing and $12 billion to R&D. 

  Additionally, Big Pharma remains the largest lobbying force in the country. From 2020 to 2022, the pharmaceutical and health products industry spent $1 billion on lobbying; this was more than the combined spending of the oil, gas, alcohol, gambling, farming, and defense industries in that time period. 

  The industry’s information initiatives extend to medical journals. Companies conduct research, write reports, and pay doctors to list themselves as the authors to enhance their reports’ credibility in a system known as “medical ghost-writing.” As of 2017, half of the editors of American medical journals receive payments from drug companies. 

  Despite billions of dollars in annual investments to control the information surrounding the industry, Americans still overwhelmingly distrust Big Pharma. Now, Arkansas Republicans must choose whether to side with pharmaceutical executives or their constituents. 

  Both parties campaign against the excesses of the industry – President Biden bemoans domestic drug prices while Republicans announce their opposition to mandates. But the GOP has yet to deliver on its rhetoric despite state-level opportunities to curb the excesses of Big Pharma and impose liability.

  Media outlets, with the exception of Daniel Horowitz of The Blaze, have largely ignored state and local initiatives. 

  North Dakota and West Virginia are considering bills that would prevent state agencies from requiring vaccines “unless the manufacturer of the medical product is liable for any death or serious injury caused by the medical product.” In Kansas, HB 2007 proposes prohibiting the state from requiring school children to receive Covid vaccines.

  These are sensible reforms with popular appeal, particularly in conservative states. Executives shouldn’t profit while withholding information about dangerous side effects of their products; companies shouldn’t enjoy government-mandated windfalls without the risk of liability; children shouldn’t be required to receive vaccines that don’t work for a virus that doesn’t harm them. Yet, these initiatives have stalled despite Republican supermajorities in state legislatures.

  While our news media focuses on federal squabbles, state and local initiatives often have a more direct impact on our daily freedoms. State and local edicts stripped Americans of their right to travel, shut down schools, and arrested dissidents. Going forward, they will likely determine individuals’ rights to resist the federal-corporate partnership that protects Big Pharma. 

  These state initiatives cut both ways.

  The Tennessee State Senate recently passed SB 11, which makes protections against COVID mandates and lockdowns permanent. Meanwhile, New York Assembly Bill 8378 aims to require Covid vaccines for all students, guaranteeing a steady demand of clients for pharmaceutical companies. 

  State officials across the nation can help usher in the “new generation of Republican leadership” that Governor Sanders described. They can fight against the federal government’s insulation of Big Pharma, affirm their commitment to the justice of the Seventh Amendment, and champion the rights of their citizens against the widely distrusted, highly profitable industry. 

  If they don’t, they risk repeating the familiar trend of Republican leadership: shilling for corporate interests while ignoring the will of their voters.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 19:30

• US Issues Ultra-Rare Rebuke Of Israeli Top Minister: "Repugnant & Disgusting"
  US Issues Ultra-Rare Rebuke Of Israeli Top Minister: “Repugnant & Disgusting”

  The Biden administration this week issued a very rare rebuke directed at close US ally Israel, which receives billions in foreign aid annually, following controversial remarks by far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

  State Department spokesman Ned Price called statements by Smotrich “irresponsible, repugnant and disgusting” in what was probably the most strongly worded condemnation directed at a top Israeli minister in recent history.

  

  Smotrich earlier in the week called on Israelis to “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Hawara, a West Bank town which recently saw a wave of settler violence which left at least one Palestinian dead and injured over 100 others, amid a scene of torched homes and cars.

  Price emphasized this week that the Biden administration condemns Smotrich’s comments and considers them as an “incitement to violence”. He then said the US calls on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to publicly disavow Smotrich’s comments and to urge the opposite, for the sake of peace.

  According to The Times of Israel:

  US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to “wipe out” the Palestinian town of Huwara were “irresponsible, repugnant and disgusting.”

  “Just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amounts to incitement to violence,” he says after being asked about the senior minister’s comments during a press briefing.

  “We call on Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials to publicly and clearly reject and disavow these comments,” Price adds.

  BREAKING: Israeli minister of finance Bezalel Smotrich: “The Palestinian village of Hawara should be wiped out of the earth. The Israeli government needs to do it and not private citizens” https://t.co/0yvEl6Q2We

  — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 1, 2023

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  The publication underscored that the rare US-Israeli sharp disagreement “came days after a terrorist shot dead two Israeli brothers who were driving through Huwara, which was followed by many settlers rampaging through the Nablus-area town in what led to the death of one Palestinian, some 300 injured — four of whom seriously — and dozens of vehicles and buildings torched.”

  All of this has threatened to fray US-Israel relations, as Al Monitor reports:

  An unnamed National Security Council spokesperson told the American press on Thursday that no meetings were planned for next week between Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and any American officials, not even officials in the US Treasury department.

  Smotrich is scheduled to arrive in Washington for the annual event of Israel Bonds organization, taking place on March 12-14.

  The town of #Huwara today following the settlers attack #westbank pic.twitter.com/b3xofyp0kr

  — Oren Ziv (@OrenZiv_) February 27, 2023

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  Palestinian officials have condemned what they called a “pogrom” – and tit for tat revenge attacks have continued, with the situation continuing to be at boiling point, particularly in the Nablus Governate region of the Palestinian Authority West Bank.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 19:00

• Discover Credit Cards Will Track Gun Purchases From April
  Discover Credit Cards Will Track Gun Purchases From April

  Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Credit card provider Discover Financial Services will soon allow its network to track purchases made using payment cards at gun stores—triggering criticism that such activity leads to targeting gun owners.

  

  In September, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) had launched a Merchant Category Code (MCC) for gun retailers. ISO is the organization responsible for classification of merchant categories used by payment cards. Discover told Reuters that it plans to implement the code beginning April. “We remain focused on continuing to protect and support lawful purchases on our network while protecting the privacy of cardholders,” the company said.

  Discover’s decision has attracted strong criticism online. “This is a MASSIVE problem Congress needs to address, IMMEDIATELY!” Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said in a March 3 tweet.

  “Discover Card will begin tracking firearm purchases starting next month. There are more than 50 million Discover cards in use right now. They are coming for your guns little by little,” Congressman Troy E. Nehls (R-Texas) said in a March 3 tweet.

  “It’s called a Social Credit System. I have been warning ppl this is coming. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said radio host Doll Arntzen.

  Social Credit System is a national credit rating system used by Beijing that ranks and blacklists people in China based on criteria approved by the communist regime.

  “American citizens should be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights without fear of being tracked or discrimination against. We’re solving this in West Virginia with the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act. Congress needs to follow our lead,” said Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) in a tweet.

  Intrusive Action

  In a Feb. 27 post, the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) “lobbying” arm Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) pointed out that Discover’s statement to Reuters did not provide an explanation as to how the company will determine which purchases are suspicious enough to warrant reporting.

  Discover also did not reveal whether customers will be provided with any information in case their purchases have triggered an alert.

  “Use of the MCC can only inform a credit card company that a certain amount of money was spent at what is considered a firearm retailer. It cannot be used to track what was actually bought, much less determine why the purchase was made,” the post said.

  “Thus, the program inherently poses a risk to consumers of needlessly intrusive and harassing consequences for completely lawful and innocent conduct.”

  Tagging Gun Purchases, Legislation

  A Discover company spokesperson told Reuters that other payment network firms have also decided to impose the new MCC code in April, without naming the firms. “We were following the industry for consistent implementation,” the spokesperson said.

  Back in September, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express also announced that they will be assigning category codes for sales that take place at gun stores and on gun-related purchases from stores dealing in sporting goods.

  Discover is a minor player in the U.S. credit and debit card industry, only accounting for 2 percent of the $9.56 trillion in purchases made through the payment methods last year. Visa had a 61 percent share, followed by Mastercard with 26 percent, and American Express with 11 percent.

  Meanwhile, states are taking action to counter payment firms’ moves to track gun purchases. On Jan. 12, West Virginia introduced the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act which bars financial institutions from disclosing financial records “in a manner that singles out or discriminates against any person based on activity protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

  The bill warned that the new MCC code for gun purchases will pave the way for “unprecedented surveillance” of individuals who abide by Second Amendment activity as well as “unprecedented information sharing” between the

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 18:30

• All Portland Walmart Stores To "Permanently Close" Amid Theft Wave
  All Portland Walmart Stores To “Permanently Close” Amid Theft Wave

  In order to address the issue of shoplifting and retail theft, the final two Walmart stores in the city of Portland will shutter their doors in late March. 

  FOX 12 Oregon reported that the Walmart locations at 1123 North Hayden Meadows Drive and 4200 Southeast 82nd Avenue at the Eastport Plaza would close on Mar. 24. 

  “The decision to close these stores was made after a careful review of their overall performance. We consider many factors, including current and projected financial performance, location, population, customer needs, and the proximity of other nearby stores when making these difficult decisions. After we decide to move forward, our focus is on our associates and their transition, which is the case here,” a spokesperson with Walmart told the local media outlet.

  All Portland Walmart stores to permanently close in late March

  Story: https://t.co/eeYnnS751h pic.twitter.com/dTS1Y0pcfl

  — FOX 12 Oregon (@fox12oregon) March 2, 2023

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  The announced closures come amid a wave of violent crime across the Portland metro area, which includes retail thefts, armed robberies, and homicides. The city has also seen a surge of violent protests from ANTIFA and BLM groups. 

  Oregon Live reported that in 2022, Portland set a new record for homicides with 101 cases, surpassing the previous year’s record of 92. Meanwhile, a National Retail Federation report revealed that retailers experienced an average surge of 26.5% in organized retail crime (ORC) incidents in 2021 compared to the previous year.

  Walmart has announced it will permanently close all its locations in Portland, Ore. Walmart has long been harshly criticized by the city’s left-wing politicians & residents, but this shutdown follows the consequences of the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots that normalized urban criminality.

  — Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 3, 2023

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  Data from the Portland Police Bureau indicated that between January 2022 and January 2023, the city witnessed more than 6,000 burglary incidents. Additionally, the data revealed over 27,000 larceny offenses.

  The epic failure of progressive city leadership pushing a failed ‘woke agenda’ has resulted in lawlessness in some parts of the metro area. Companies are losing money as thefts soar, and a breaking point has been reached. An exodus of businesses will only hurt low-income residents who need the pricing power at discount stores.

  Recall a similar exodus with other retailers is happening in other progressive cities across the US, such as San Francisco.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 18:00

• Biden Walks Away From Question About Holding China Accountable For COVID Origin
  Biden Walks Away From Question About Holding China Accountable For COVID Origin

  Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Days after FBI Director Christopher Wray said the origin of the COVID pandemic is “most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” President Joe Biden abruptly walked away from the White House press corps when asked about whether he intends to hold China accountable.

  

  On March 3, the president approached the waiting press corps on his way from the White House residence to Marine One.

  As he came within earshot, a reporter asked him, “On COVID origin, will you hold China accountable?”

  At the question, Biden “put both hands up in a shrug, seeming annoyed, and then turned and walked away toward Marine One,” according to a White House pool report.

  BREAKING: President Biden @POTUS was going to speak but turned away upon hearing my question on #Covid origin and whether he’ll hold #China accountable. @NTDNews @ChinaInFocusNTD @capitolreport pic.twitter.com/jsbMTNPeYb

  — Iris Tao (@IrisTaoTV) March 3, 2023

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  The president’s apparent reluctance to speak about the issue came after the recent revelation that the Department of Energy, which oversees 17 U.S. laboratories, believes as early as 2021 that COVID-19 most likely emerged from a lab leak.

  

  The conclusion, reached with “low confidence,” was made in an updated classified intelligence report to the White House and key congressional members in 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal.

  The FBI had previously arrived at the same conclusion earlier in 2021 with “moderate confidence.”

  Wray confirmed in a Fox News appearance earlier this week that his agency still holds that view.

  “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray said.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 17:30

• Prof Demands 'Black Bereavement' Leave After Killing Of Any Black Person
  Prof Demands ‘Black Bereavement’ Leave After Killing Of Any Black Person

  For the latest evidence that woke academia is dragging Western society into madness, we present Southern Illinois University Edwardsville professor Angel Jones, who argues that black university professors and staff should be allowed bereavement leave whenever any black person is victimized…anywhere.  

  

  Writing at Times Higher Education, Jones accuses American colleges and universities of disregarding Black faculty and staff’s mental and emotional well-being in the aftermath of “societal events” involving a black person. Contrasting against the “bare minimum” response that’s offered to black students, Jones asks: 

  “Where is the acknowledgment of our pain? Where are our counselling services? Where is our grace for missed meetings and deadlines while we mourn?“

  Underscoring the broad range of qualifying events, Jones spotlights the example of Tyre Nichols, the black man savagely beaten to death in January by…five other black men with Memphis police badges.  

  Jones, whose work is “grounded in Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism,” ridicules the notion that, as a black woman, she would be “expected to return to ‘business as usual’ on Monday after seeing a member of my community murdered on Friday.” The SIU-E campus is more than 300 miles from Memphis, and Jones gives no indication of any personal relationship with Nichols. 

  Returning to “business as usual” is a while privilege. Black people are in mourning after seeing ANOTHER member of our community brutally beaten and killed by the police. Expecting us to return to work/school unscathed is insensitive and unrealistic (1/9)

  — Angel Jones, PhD (@AngelJonesPhD) January 30, 2023

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  In a fleeting moment of clarity, Jones recognizes that “some may have thought I was joking when I mentioned Black bereavement leave, but I wasn’t.“

  As for how much of a free pass black faculty and staff should receive after a black person is victimized anywhere within range of the internet, Jones calls for “flexibility”: 

  “Some may need a day off while others may just need to be able to work from home. Some may need a small extension on a deadline while others may need to have something removed from their plate completely.”

  Jones university biography reads something like the profile pages of woke-parody Twitter accounts:

  • Expertise: “racial microaggressions, Racial Battle Fatigue, and gendered-racism”

  • Research focus: “The impact of racism on the mental health of Black students at historically White institutions”

  • Recent study: “How Black graduate women respond to and cope with gendered-racial microaggression”

  • Next study: “Exploring the experiences of Afro-Latina students with Racial Battle Fatigue”

  • Pronouns: “she/her/ella”

  Jones and critical race scholars like her all across Western academia foster black fragility and interracial tension…but, hey, it’s a living, and one that’s divorced from rational market forces.  

  Black women are often underpaid and undervalued, so receiving a message like this really made my heart smile. It is a beautiful reminder that WE get to determine our worth, not anyone else. pic.twitter.com/GG33TlzoGi

  — Angel Jones, PhD (@AngelJonesPhD) February 24, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 17:00

• "Fu*king Amateur Hour": Democrats Livid At Biden Over DC Crime Bill Flip-Flop
  “Fu*king Amateur Hour”: Democrats Livid At Biden Over DC Crime Bill Flip-Flop

  House Democrats are livid that President Biden is going to nix a Washington DC crime bill that would reduce the penalties for violent crimes such as carjackings and robberies.

  

  The bill, which was unanimously passed by the District of Columbia City Council in January, was vetoed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.

  The Council then overrode Bowser by a 12-1 vote, but because DC isn’t a state, this type of legislation must instead be approved by Congress – and then signed by the President, before it can become law.

  Last month the GOP-controlled House threw a wrench in the Democrats’ plans, voting 250-173 for a Republican-sponsored resolution to overturn the DC crime bill. All but 31 Democrats voted for it, meaning most Democrats wanted to reduce the penalties for violent crimes in DC.

  Licking their wounds from this expected loss, House Democrats then expected the Biden administration to veto the resolution overturning the original crime bill – which Democratic leadership told lawmakers Biden would do. The White House even issued a Statement of Administration Policy which opposed the resolution and backed the DC City Council.

  But on Thursday, Biden announced that he would sign the resolution to block the DC bill – thus maintaining the status quo when it comes to penalizing crime in DC.

  And Democrats are livid…

  “The White House fucked this up royally,” one House Democrat told The Hill via text message.

  “So a lot of us who are allies voted no in order to support what the White House wanted. And now we are being hung out to dry, the lawmaker continued. “FUCKING AMATEUR HOUR. HEADS SHOULD ROLL OVER AT THE WHITE HOUSE OVER THIS.”

  The House Democrat told The Hill that several other lawmakers were “EXTREMELY pissed” about the situation.

  Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), the No. 3 House Democrat, issued a rare rebuke of the White House during a Punchbowl News event at the caucus’s retreat in Baltimore, saying that Biden’s move was “disappointing.”

  “It’s disappointing for me and anybody who believes in home rule, honestly. I’m a former mayor of a city of 70,000 and I wouldn’t want the federal government coming in and telling me what city ordinances to pass. … So I think it’s disappointing in that context,” Aguilar said.  

  “I voted against it, but I understand and respect the president’s position here,” Aguilar, the former mayor of Redlands, Calif., continued. “We’ll see, the Senate has to pass that, and I know that they’ve said they have the votes but all of those things have to happen. But it’s disappointing for those of us who believe in home rule.” -The Hill

  “Home Rule” refers to allowing DC to make its own laws.

  I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule – but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections – such as lowering penalties for carjackings.

  If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.

  — President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2023

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  One House Democrat aide texted that the Democratic caucus is “a little shocked” by the White House’s decision.

  White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that “One thing that the president believes in is making sure that the streets in America and communities across the country are safe, that includes in D.C. That does not change,” adding “When it comes to what this proposal brings forth, which is really lowering penalties for car-jacking, he doesn’t believe that’s going to keep our communities safe.”

  Jean-Pierre also pointed out that the DC crime reforms reduce maximum sentences “for offenses like murders and other homicides, armed-home invasion, burglaries, armed carjackings … armed robberies, unlawful gun and some sexual assault offenses.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 16:00

• The Case For A National Sales Tax
  The Case For A National Sales Tax

  Authored by Brian McGlinchey via Stark Realities

  Sometime during this 117th U.S. Congress, the long-proposed “Fair Tax” will likely receive its first-ever floor vote in the House. A national sales tax, it would replace not only personal and corporate income taxes, but Social Security, Medicare, estate and gift taxes too.

  Though every tax scheme has its pitfalls and moral failings, the net impact of a switch from the income tax to a sales tax could be positive for the citizenry and the economy. While entrenched interests and the opportunity for misleading political attacks on Fair Tax proponents make its adoption in the near-term a long shot, it’s a concept worth keeping on the country’s collective back burner.

  

  Fair Tax Basics

  HR25, the “Fair Tax Act of 2023,” advances a national sales tax “on the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services in lieu of the current income taxes, payroll taxes, and estate and gift taxes.” The Internal Revenue Service would be sent into history’s dustbin, while a much smaller federal tax bureaucracy would administer the sales tax.

  The federal tax rate would be a whopping 30%. The bill and many FairTax advocates describe it a 23% “tax-inclusive” rate, which means they arrive at by expressing the tax as a percent of the total outlay — including the tax itself.

  While there’s actually some financial logic to that methodology when comparing it to income taxes, Fair Tax proponents should abandon the practice. Everyday Americans are fully accustomed to state and local sales taxes being expressed as a percent of the purchase price, and will never grasp the arcane reasoning that leads to 23%. They should emphasize the fact that paychecks would have no more federal income tax or payroll tax deductions and make the case for the 30% rate.

  Opponents are quick to decry sales taxes’ lack of progressiveness. Setting aside the question of whether it’s actually just for governments to confiscate a higher proportion of money from those who earn or spend more of it, the proposed Fair Tax does include a “prebate” — money sent to every household that effectively negates federal sales tax for spending up to the poverty level.

  For 2023, it would be about $6,900 a year for a family of four. It should be noted that the least prosperous Americans currently receive money through the income tax system, via “refundable” credits. If Congress wants to replace that largesse, it will have to create new entitlements.

  Ridding America of The Income Tax’s Worst Traits

  A federal sales tax would addresses the worst evils of the income tax, which include:

  Complexity. Even for the financially astute, the income tax code is mind-numbing. Congress and the IRS create a wickedly complex maze, and then — with threats of penalties and jail time — put the burden of navigating it on people and businesses.

  Wasted time and money. Americans spent an estimated 6.5 billion hours and more than $200 billion to comply with IRS filing and reporting requirements in 2022. While tax preparation fees and effort are top-of-mind, the income tax is a weed that drains time, money and energy throughout our economy — from all the record-keeping required by financial institutions, to the legions of lawyers and financial advisors straining to find loopholes for corporate and individual clients.

  

  Intrusiveness. The income tax requires individuals and businesses to disclose an enormous amount of information — and to be prepared to share much more if the IRS comes knocking. With a sales tax, the government doesn’t need to know about your choice of charities, your marital status, how many nights you slept in your vacation home, how much alimony you paid, which investments you sold and how much you paid for them.

  A magnet drawing money into politics. A sales tax would certainly invite corporate lobbying and political contributions aimed at exempting certain goods and services from the tax, but the scale of that effort would be a fraction of what’s goes on vis-a-vis the income tax.

  Tax-free criminals and illegal residents. Sales taxes reach those whose income is derived from illegal commerce or otherwise hidden from the government, from drug dealers and illegal immigrants to “under-the-counter” employees. Regardless of its origin, when money is spent, it’s taxed.

  No tax system achieves 100% compliance and each one invites evasion, but it seems safe to say sales taxes outperform income taxes on those fronts.

  Hiding the cost of federal government. That cost is obscured by the tax code’s complexity, and Americans’ obliviousness to the fact that businesses’ taxes and tax-compliance costs are largely passed on to them in the prices they pay. With a sales tax, the cost of government is printed on every receipt.

  Seeking to collect about the same amount of total tax as the array of taxes it would replace, the Fair Tax would be set at 30%. For people used to state and local taxes of say, 4 to 8%, that’s a jarring figure — and that sticker shock is one of the best aspects of a national sales tax: forcing people to directly confront the cost of our enormous federal government and its sprawling military empire.

  The rate would initially be set at 30%, but politicians would certainly run on promises to cut it. That, in turn, might make politicians more amenable to actually reducing the growth rate of the federal budget.

  On the downside, politicians may seek to exempt certain classes of individuals from the sales tax.

  Resetting Americans’ Understanding of Social Security, Medicare

  The income tax isn’t the only problematic tax that the Fair Tax would abolish. For example, doing away with Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes would go a long way toward curing Americans of the false belief that Social Security taxes are “contributions” that fund individual “accounts.”

  Rather, these programs that are hurtling toward insolvency would be seen for what they are: entitlement programs that redistribute money among Americans. Viewing them in their true light would help foster support for changes that will prevent their ballooning costs from turning into a higher sales tax rate at the register.

  Tax-Code Profiteers Will Resist

  Any effort to bring about major change must confront the tyranny of the status quo, as those who benefit from the current arrangement rise to preserve it.

  Enactment of the Fair Tax would, overnight, render obsolete a great many American businesses and professions. Intuit — the maker of TurboTax — already has a history of lobbying against efforts to make federal income-tax filing simpler and free.

  Income tax repeal doesn’t just threaten tax preparation outfits, accountants and tax lawyers. For just one example, consider that repeal of the income tax means no more investment taxes — rendering 401(k) custodians irrelevant too.

  There’s a huge political headwind as well: An incumbent’s vote for the Fair Tax is a huge gift to any challenger. As has been already demonstrated, challengers will run alarming ads proclaiming the incumbent supported a new, 30% sales tax, conveniently neglecting to disclose that the tax would replace all the other federal taxes, allowing Americans to keep every penny of their employment and investment income.

  Buyer Beware

  Even among the most impassioned opponents of the income tax, you’ll find strong resistance to a national sales tax, over fear we’ll end up with the current array of taxes and a new federal sales tax too.

  The Fair Tax Act would do away with the income, payroll, estate and gift taxes and the IRS, but with no guarantee against their return. It’s therefore essential that adoption of a federal sales tax be accompanied by simultaneous repeal of the 16th Amendment, which cursed the country with the federal income tax in 1913.

  Stark Realities undermines official narratives, demolishes conventional wisdom and exposes fundamental myths across the political spectrum. Read more, comment and subscribe at starkrealities.substack.com

  Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey: Invigoratingly unorthodox perspectives for intellectually honest readers 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 15:30

• Rep. Greene To Zelensky: "Leave Your Hands Off Of Our Sons & Daughters"
  Rep. Greene To Zelensky: “Leave Your Hands Off Of Our Sons & Daughters”

  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has lashed out at recent controversial remarks of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during her Friday speech before the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

  She addressed the Ukrainian leader by name, telling him to keep his “hands off of our sons and daughters” over the Russian invasion in Ukraine, after last month he had issued an appeal to the American public in which he chastised and berated those either unsupportive or on the fence about continuing massive defense aid.

  

  Zelensky had uttered the words in a late February press conference when asked by a reporter about growing ‘Ukraine fatigue’ among the US public. He began his response by saying, “If they do not change their opinion…they will lose NATO, they will lose the clout of the United States, they will lose the leadership position they are enjoying in the world.”

  He then quickly pivoted to saying that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, it will expand the invasion to other European nations. The Russian army will “enter the Baltic states, NATO member states,” Zelensky claimed, before saying, “then the US will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the way as we are sending their [sic] sons and daughters to war.”

  Rep. Greene in her Friday speech blasted Zelensky’s claim in the following: 

  Greene on Friday told the CPAC crowd that she was still “committed to saying no money to Ukraine, and that country needs to find peace, not war.”  

  “And while I will look at a camera and directly tell Zelensky, you’d better leave your hands off of our sons and daughters because they’re not dying over there,” she continued. 

  MTG:

  “I will look at a camera and directly tell Zelensky you better leave your hands off our sons and daughters, because they’re not dying over there.” pic.twitter.com/RBBmnw5gBA

  — Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 3, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  While MTG’s scathing criticism is predictably being greeted with outrage among staunch Kiev supporters, who will likely argue that the White House has ruled out sending American troops to fight in Ukraine, the ‘mission creep’ on display of the last many months has become obvious.

  Among many examples, Pentagon ‘advisers’ and weapons trackers have been sent into Ukraine, and more recently tanks and longer-range rockets have been approved, with F-16 jets now entering the Washington debate. But a small group of GOP outliers in Congress – especially MTG and Matt Gaetz – have lately pushed to halt the unaccountable billions flowing into Kiev’s coffers, regardless of how unpopular that position remains in D.C.

  At the #SOTU tomorrow, Joe Biden will tell us how much more we must do for Ukraine.

  But why should we do more for a country that just rounded up dozens of its senior officials over overt corruption?

  The answer is as simple as Hunter Biden’s life motto: a grifter’s gotta grift. pic.twitter.com/gYrZLUjGVN

  — Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) February 6, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Reps Greene and Gaetz’s stances are rare also given the vast majority of Congressional leaders treat Zelensky with rock star status, which was on display when he received long, enthusiastic standing ovations during his in-person speech before Congress last December. 

  As for MTG’s words at CPAC, the crowd appeared to be on her side, given they loudly cheered her rebuke of Biden’s Ukraine policy, while also at one point booing Zelensky’s name.

  Watch her full speech below…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 15:00

• India: The Next Front In The War On The BRICS
  India: The Next Front In The War On The BRICS

  Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, ‘n Guns blog,

  There is far more to the current multi-modal geopolitical war than just what’s happening in Ukraine. This conflict has led to a myriad of downstream effects and moves which are just as important as what the encirclement of Bakhmut means.

  For years the wildcard in the BRICS Alliance has been India. India’s rivalry with China as well as its complicated relationships with both Russia and the West have always served as wedge issues to drive the alliance apart.

  

  During the Trump years the “I” in BRICS, India, was slowly working its way under Prime Minister Narendra Modi back into the West’s orbit. It led to me thinking that that “I” had been replaced by Iran, especially pre-COVID-19.

  Today with the ascendence of Lula to the presidency in Brazil, the BRICS have, for now, lost the “B” in their alliance. So, with all of the talk about the BRICS coming into their own as a global economic and political force the situation is far from settled because the West and Davos are simply not going to let this just happen without a fight.

  The relationship between Russia and China is dominating the headlines with major US officials making significant threats to China, in particular, about supporting Russia. These threats are, of course, very real, coming from people like Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

  At the same time, they are also not overtures to real negotiations. Making demands that only promise the abeyance of the stick with no carrot is not an opening offer, it’s a closing offer. So, while Yellen travels to Kiev to pledge Zelenskyy unlimited support of US taxpayer funds while the “Biden” administration dithers over how to deal with the situation in E. Palastine, Ohio, tells us where the priorities of our leadership is.

  Winning the geopolitical war must take precedence over everything else, even if there is no real ‘country’ left after the war is over.

  There is a saying by Sun Tsu making the rounds today in social media that is wholly appropriate here:

  “An evil enemy will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.” – Sun Tzu

  This describes the actions of Yellen, Blinken and their fellow travelers in Europe perfectly. Now, I know this is not news to anyone who’s read my work for the past few years. You know I view them as vandals, not incompetents, but it’s important to keep this in mind at every step in this march towards global conflict.

  Because this is the way most of the BRICS nations and their growing list of sympathizers also view the situation. Russia has made this very clear. Vladimir Putin, his Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov, and former Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, have all expressed this.

  The longer this conflict goes on the more adamant about these points they become. The same can be said for China and its leadership.

  China says less than the Russians do, but does more with who they choose to talk to and when. Foreign Minister Wang Xi’s recent visits to Moscow and Tehran further cemented a triangular foundation of support. These visits were contemporaneous to the convocation of warmongers in Munich two weeks ago. That was not an accident.

  Neither was Premier Xi’s visit to Riyadh and the major Arab summits where he made sincere overtures to welcome them into the forming pan-Asian economic sphere. Don’t think for a second these events don’t have knock-on effects and reverberate in national capitols all over the world.

  We’ve seen a spate of major announcements further underscore just how far along the entire BRICS project, with or without Brazil, is.

  This brings me back to India as the wildcard. Modi’s journey from a guy with one foot on two islands (East v. West) to planting his feet firmly with the East has been an interesting and vital one.

  If we’ve learned nothing else over the past year of war in Ukraine it is that most of the world is unphased by threats by the US by the countries I’ve just discussed. Iran clearly doesn’t care. China understands that if Russia falls militarily, China is next. Saudi Arabia and the rest of OPEC+ understand who their future trade partners really are.

  This is why India is now in the crosshairs of Davos. They are the last major power in the region left to stymie Asian integration.

  Reports circulated the same weekend as the Munich Security Conference that none other than George Soros was behind the attacks on PM Modi through a report from Hindenberg Research. They targeted one of Modi’s big financial supporters, Guatam Adani William Engdahl covered this in detail.

  In January Hindenburg targeted an Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, head of the Adani Group and at the time reportedly the richest man in Asia. Adani also happens to be the major financial backer of Modi. Adani’s fortune has multiplied hugely since Modi became Prime Minister, often on ventures tied to Modi’s economic agenda.

  Since the January 24 Hindenburg report alleging improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation, Adani Group companies have lost over $120 billion in market value. Adani Group is the second largest conglomerate in India. Opposition parties have made a point that Modi is tied to Adani. Both are long-term friends from Gujarat in the same part of India.

  But Engdahl doesn’t stop there. He very smartly ties this to George Soros’ speech at Munich, you know, the one he skipped this year’s WEF conference in Davos to give. Soros called out Modi directly saying his days were numbered and he’s no ‘democrat.’

  Soros is beyond being coy about these things anymore. He’s telling you what he’s doing.

  RT ran a similar story, much more focused on Soros and the Indian Foreign Minister’s response to him the same day as Engdahl’s article:

  Soros said during the Munich Security Conference on Thursday that fraud allegations against the multinational conglomerate, headed by the PM’s long-time associate Gautam Adani, would “significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government… I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India.”

  Those comments didn’t go unnoticed in New Delhi, with Jaishankar firing back on Saturday at the 92-year-old billionaire and neo-liberal political activist. The foreign minister described Soros as “old, rich, opinionated and dangerous” because he’s willing to invest his money in “shaping narratives.”

  “People like him think an election is good if the person they want to see wins and, if the election throws up a different outcome, then they will say it is a flawed democracy,” he added.

  For another take on the same subject I recommend you read Andrew Korybko’s piece from the same day on this subject, digging up the building propaganda campaign against Modi starting with the NY Times, passing next through the BBC documentary and ending with Soros’ Munich speech.

  The need to cleave India from the BRICS is now acute. The war in Ukraine is reaching the next phase as Russia forces what’s left of the Ukrainian army from Bakhmut clearing the way for Russia to establish logistical dominion in the center of the Donbass.

  Because of this there is an even greater sense of urgency within Davos to upgrade not just Ukraine but also pick a new fight with China. The clock is ticking down on the old financial system. The end of LIBOR is nigh.

  The bodies are piling up in the Fed’s war on leverage as high as the ones on the battlefield in the Donbass. Malign actors like Soros may still they have the ability to avoid these things but, in the end, they are fronting strength while privately they are freaking out.

  Moreover, global opinion of the West’s potency as seen through the lens of Russian potency has shifted in a way that make the decisions of Asia’s leadership that much easier.

  https://t.co/ROXleR4gBe pic.twitter.com/Ug1YRqEjXb

  — Regina (@ReginaMourad) February 26, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  These results are themselves revelatory of the biases within the populations polled, especially in the heavily propagandized West. But those from both Turkey and India are eye-popping and confirm my long-held belief that once someone finally stood up to the US and Europe and survived it would radically change the psychology of the geopolitical game board.

  One only need to look at how brazen Davos’ moves are, how heavily they are flooding the zone with headlines, emerging crises, and easily-debunked lies to see what’s really going on.

  In light of that it should be noted just how ineffectual Davos’ moves against Modi and India have been. The recent regional elections in three important Indian provinces left the clear impression that Modi’s influence over electoral politics is still very much intact.

  Modi has made it a point to engage the northeastern provinces, normally ignored by Indian politics, to entrench his hold on power in India. This is clearly his counter-move to anything the West would attempt to throw at him.

  I’m no expert on Indian politics, but from the commentary I’ve seen, this opens up the possibility of Modi gaining a super-majority in next year’s elections. Regardless of whether that is true or not, what we know now is that the next year will be a minefield as Davos throws its weight around to topple another government it does not control.

  The question I leave you with is will this be another Hungary, where polls had Viktor Orban in a tight race with Davos’ Anyone-But-Orban coalition only to see Orban cruise to his biggest victory ever, or will it Brazil, where the campaign against Bolsonaro was just strong enough to remove him from power.

  Game on, George.

  *  *  *

  Join my Patreon if you you don’t want to be another front in Davos’ war.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/04/2023 – 14:30

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• One Year Later In Ukraine: Washington And NATO Got It Very Wrong
  One Year Later In Ukraine: Washington And NATO Got It Very Wrong

  Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

  It’s been a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

  In spite of claims from the regime and its media allies that Russia was the next Third Reich and would soon roll through half of Europe, it turns out that was never even remotely true.

  

  In fact, things have unfolded more or less just like we predicted here at mises.org:

  • the Russians aren’t even close to occupying any place in Europe beyond eastern Ukraine.

  • It’s not Munich 1938. Economic sanctions have not crippled the Russian regime.

  • Most of the world remains ambivalent on the conflict.

  • The conflict will likely end with a negotiated settlement – contrary to what the Washington wants.

  The fact is that in spite of the United States’ and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) efforts to turn Ukraine into World War III, the war in Ukraine remains a regional conflict. It seems most of the world is uninterested in making sacrifices to carry out US policy in Ukraine and that many see the inherent hypocrisy behind US talk about respecting national sovereignty. 

  There’s also an important lesson here about listening to the war maximalists who incessantly promote full-scale war as the “solution” to every international crisis. The US clearly wants to fight the war to the last Ukrainian, in what the US is packaging as a global crusade in the style of World War II. But, it seems now that more pragmatic thinkers—i.e., the French and the Germans—recognize that negotiations are the more humane solution. 

  They Wanted a “Munich Moment”

  Within days of the Russian invasion, the Western global hegemonists got to work claiming the invasion was essentially a war of global conquest. For instance, Matthew Kroenig in Foreign Policy stated that Vladimir Putin had shown a clear interest in “resurrecting the former Russian Empire, and other vulnerable Eastern European countries—Poland, Romania, or the Baltic states—might be next.” Kroenig immediately concluded that the US’s military budget should be doubled.

  Another writer insisted the Ukraine invasion contained “a whiff of Munich.” John Storey at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute claimed that “the forgotten lesson of Munich” had allowed “Putin is [to do] his best impression of German dictator Adolf Hitler.” Storey ominously asked, “Will the Baltic states and Eastern Europe be next?” dutifully repeating the party line that Russian tanks might soon roll into central Europe.

  Yet the “lesson of Munich”—which is invoked incessantly and certainly not “forgotten”—has never been appropriate for conceptualizing the war in Ukraine. That sort of thing has even led some pundits to proclaim that global nuclear war is “worth it.” The real lesson to be learned here, however, is the lesson of 1914: that we should not allow military alliances to lead major powers into overreactions that lead to global disasters. The “Munich” crowd wanted mass mobilization against Russia in early 2022. They didn’t get it, and thank goodness.

  Russia Was Never a Global Threat

  It has been clear from the very beginning that Russia has never had the capability to sustain an occupation of any areas that do not already contain a sizable number of ethnic Russians or Russian sympathizers. This hardly mirrors the military capabilities of the Third Reich. Thus, it is not surprising that Russia’s occupation endures only in southeastern Ukraine and the Crimea. At this point, Russia is attempting to push the frontiers of its occupation zone as deeply as possible into areas with a sizable Russian minority. Even this has proven difficult for the Russian regime. Russia simply lacks the resources to take on anyone but its impoverished neighbors. 

  What’s more, bogging down Russia has required only a tiny portion of the war-making resources available to the NATO coalition. Europe’s NATO members have mostly pledged older weapons, and precious little state-of-the art equipment. The Washington Post recently noted, for example, that the West “is still short on pledges.” Recent promises of Leopard tanks from Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands turned out to be promises of “refurbished” tanks that are more than forty years old. Moreover, none of these tanks will even arrive before this summer. As of late November, contributions of military aid from Germany, the United Kingdom, and France combined totaled a paltry €5 billion. That’s 6.00 percent the size of Russia’s military budget, and a miniscule 0.05 percent of the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $10 trillion that comes out of the UK, Germany, and France combined. But what of US military aid? Surely a huge amount is needed to counter the Russian juggernaut? Well, the US military aid totals no more than $50 billion as of early 2023. That’s 6.00 percent of the US military budget, and it’s 0.20 percent of the US’s GDP.  In addition to this, the US regime now admits it doesn’t even know what happens to the weapons it sends to Ukraine. How much of that $50 billion actually goes to Ukraine’s defense? Not $50 billion. 

  If that’s all it takes to keep Russia slogging it out in eastern Ukraine, it’s hard to see how the Russian regime poses an existential threat to even western Ukraine, let alone any other state in Europe. This helps illustrate how unnecessary the US is to the conflict. Russia poses no threat to the US—unless the US escalates to the point of nuclear war. If the Europeans feel threatened, they can easily defend themselves given the huge size of their economic bloc, relative to Russia. The Europeans have more than enough resources to “stand with Ukraine” however they wish to define that. Yes, that might require Europeans to give up a bit of their government pensions and enormous welfare states in order to fund their own military defense. But there’s absolutely no reason why American taxpayers need be on the hook to subsidize Europeans as they’re swilling cappuccinos on month-long vacations.

  The World Is Not United against Russia

  Perhaps seeing that Russia presents no conventional military threat beyond its “near abroad,” most of the world has not signed off on starting a new cold war. Although NATO mouthpieces have been enthusiastic about the passage of United Nations resolutions condemning Russia, it’s notable how many countries chose to abstain from the vote. Last week, the UN general assembly voted again on a resolution condemning the Russian invasion and calling for Russia’s withdrawal. One hundred forty-one countries voted in favor, but, notably, thirty-two countries abstained from voting (seven states voted against the measure). Among those thirty-two countries were China, India, Pakistan, and South Africa. India, a US ally and the “world’s largest democracy,” was apparently uninterested in joining NATO on the resolution. South Africa, another major world economy and democracy, stayed out of the matter as well. In fact, the only member of the BRICS bloc to vote in favor of the resolution was Brazil.

  This has partly been driven by practical matters. The political leadership in these countries is simply not prepared to impoverish its population in order to please Washington. But the resistance also comes from the fact that most of the world knows US pretensions toward respecting national sovereignty and international law are all an act. The US invasions and bombing campaigns against Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria have made it clear the United States is perfectly at ease with violating national sovereignty when it suits US ambitions. The so-called rules-based international order obviously means nothing to the US when it becomes inconvenient to Washington. (It should also be noted the Ukraine regime supported invading Iraq and sent at least five thousand troops to help the US occupy that supposedly sovereign nation.)

  What does this all mean for Russia? It means that some of the world’s largest economies have signaled they have no plans to cut Russia off from the global economy and that they refuse to cut themselves off from Russian oil, gas, and foodstuffs.

  Sanctions Didn’t Ruin Russia

  The US has been unsuccessful in securing global compliance in isolating Russia economically. Thus, the US has been forced to rely on coercive sanctions—not just against Russia, but against those who choose to keep doing business with Russia. The US must now spend time and resources enforcing “secondary sanctions” designed to coerce countries that don’t play along, and now finds itself in the position of repeatedly threatening countries other than Russia with “consequences” for violating US sanctions.

  But, for all the US bluster on this, US sanctions have clearly failed to ruin Russia economically. Recent numbers show that the US oil sanctions against Russia “have done little to curb the flow of Russia’s crude.” Or as this article as CNBC suggests, the oil sanctions “failed completely.”

  This isn’t to say that the sanctions have had no effect. Yet it is clear that the sanctions—the harshest sanctions used since World War II—are not a “game-changer.”

  Instead, the sanctions have created additional motivation for states to find ways to get around US sanctions in the future. As Agathe Demarais notes in Foreign Policy:

  Russia, Iran, China, and other countries at odds with the United States are doubling down on efforts to vaccinate their economies against sanctions. These measures have little to do with sanctions circumvention: Instead, they represent preemptive steps to render potential financial sanctions entirely ineffective. Such mechanisms include de-dollarization efforts, the development of alternatives to SWIFT (the Belgian cooperative that connects all banks across the world), and the creation of central bank digital currencies.

  That reference to “other countries” is key. The more the US employs its financial power as a weapon against other regimes, the further this will push the world’s regimes to find ways to break free of the US-centered financial world. Those efforts will put downward pressure on the dollar in coming years.

  “Unconditional Surrender” was Never an Option

  The US has generally saved its “regime change” rhetoric for small, dirt-poor countries that are unable to fight back. Yet, following the Russian invasion, many Western commentators began calling for regime change in Russia as well. Most notably, on March 26, President Joe Biden said Putin “cannot remain in power,” although he was later forced to backtrack. Not only are the prospects for regime change in a nuclear-armed country fraught with immense danger, but many observers recognize the fact that toppling Putin is easier said than done. Nor would such a move guarantee that Putin’s regime would be replaced with a regime opposed to Russian expansionism. In fact, the new government could easily be “worse” by NATO standards.

  This is a hard pill to swallow for Americans who are wed to a long-standing obsession with “unconditional surrender” in every military conflict. The model here is the Japanese surrender in the Second World War. The reality, however, is that the overwhelming majority of military conflicts are ended through negotiated settlements.

  Nevertheless, throughout the first half of 2022, those who called for negotiations to end the war—for purposes of ending the bloodshed sooner—were branded Russian apologists. Only total victory, we were told, was an acceptable outcome.

  Those days are swiftly coming to a close. “Total victory” for Ukraine, defined as the total withdrawal of Russia, was never likely. The reality is more along the lines of what French diplomats are privately willing to admit. As the Wall Street Journal reported last week, French and German leaders are now telling the Ukrainian regime that it needs to consider peace talks:

  “We keep repeating that Russia mustn’t win, but what does that mean? If the war goes on for long enough with this intensity, Ukraine’s losses will become unbearable,” a senior French official said. “And no one believes they will be able to retrieve Crimea.”

  Gen. Petr Pavel, president-elect of the Czech Republic and a former NATO commander, said at the Munich conference [last week]: “We may end up in a situation where liberating some parts of Ukrainian territory may deliver more loss of lives than will be bearable by society. . . . There might be a point when Ukrainians can start thinking about another outcome.”

  The endgame is coming into view, and it’s a negotiated settlement. Unfortunately, it’s a settlement that will come only after an immense loss of life for both Ukrainians and Russians, and at the price of enormous loss of capital and infrastructure. A settlement could have likely been achieved sooner, and with the same territorial losses in Ukraine that likely would have resulted in any case. The US could have given up its obsession with making Ukraine a NATO outpost. The Ukraine regime could have given up trying to turn Ukraine into an ethno-state where Russian-speakers are second-class citizens. The US and Ukraine could have admitted they’re not getting Crimea back.  Instead, they chose to prolong the conflict, and the result has been perhaps hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths. The fact that the Russian regime is ultimately the aggressor here does not change this reality.  Being a small, poor country next to Russia has always been just an unfortunate reality for some. Thus, responsible foreign policy for those states lies in taking positions that limit unnecessary bloodshed while finding ways to co-exist with the Russians. Instead, the US and Ukraine have chosen to wax philosophical about moral rectitude while NATO leaders recite their bullet points on regime change, total victory, Munich, and a “rules-based order.” None of this helps save lives. 

  Those who promoted a need for full-scale war and “no peace until total victory”  have been stunningly wrong, and it has proven to be very costly.

  *  *  *

  Read More:

  • We Must Now Learn the Lesson of 1914, Not the Lesson of 1938. 

  • A Brief History of Pundits Encouraging Nuclear War

  • NATO Plans to Rip Off Americans Even More as Sweden and Finland Set to Join

  • If Ukraine Joins the EU, It Will Be the Poorest Member by Far

  • It’s Time to Abandon America’s Fetish for “Unconditional Surrender”

  • Russia Isn’t Nearly as Isolated as Washington Wants You to Believe

  • Russian Weakness and the Russian “Threat” to the West

  • No, Ordinary Russians Are Not Responsible for the Crimes of the Russian Regime

  • Why Sanctions Don’t Work, and Why They Mostly Hurt Ordinary People

  • Will Biden Sanction Half the World to Isolate Russia?

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 23:40

• GOP Congressman Introduces Bill To 'Dismantle ATF's Record Keeping' Of Gun Purchases
  GOP Congressman Introduces Bill To ‘Dismantle ATF’s Record Keeping’ Of Gun Purchases

  Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) reintroduced a bill which would require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to destroy firearm purchase records in their database.

  

  The bill, No Retaining Every Gun In a System That Restrictts Your Rights (No REGISTRY), comes amid an agency crackdown on gun stores, Fox News reports.

  The bill would also require that gun stores which are closing down to destroy their purchase records, preventing the ATF from obtaining them.

  “The Second Amendment is clear: the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed,” said Cloud in a press release. “The Federal Government does not have the right to subject its law-abiding, citizen firearm owners to excessive scrutiny.”

  “My bill would dismantle ATF’s record keeping, restore privacy for American gun owners, and reverse the groundwork laid for the creation of a federal firearms registry.”

  According to Gun Owners of America director of federal affairs, the ATF “has no business maintaining nearly a billion gun and gun owner records in a digital, searchable database.”

  

  “ATF’s recordkeeping authority has been weaponized and all statutory protections against the creation of a gun registry have been maliciously circumvented,” he added in a statement to Fox News Digital.

  “Gun Owners of America proudly supports Rep. Michael Cloud’s No REGISTRY Rights Act to rein in this rogue agency and completely eliminate ATF’s unconstitutional gun registry,” he continued.

  Additionally, Cloud’s bill is backed by GOA, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition (FRAC).

  With a Republican-controlled House, the bill could make it to the floor for a full vote. Getting through the Senate will be harder, though.

  But if the bill does make it through the upper chamber, it will go to President Biden’s desk where he could choose to veto it.

  Cloud’s bill comes as the ATF cracks down on gun stores across America.

  Last month, Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the ATF’s federal firearms licensee (FFL) inspection guidance from January 2022 that makes it easier to revoke gun stores’ federal licenses. -Fox News

  In January of 2022, the ATF updated its federal firearms license (FFL) inspection guidance which makes it easier to revoke a gun store’s federal licensing. It states that the agency “has zero tolerance for willful violations that greatly affect public safety and ATF’s ability to trace firearms recovered in violent crimes,” and that “revocation” of the FFL’s license “is the assumed action” when it comes to violations.

  When this happens, the shop is likely to close down, and can be required to send its gun purchase records – which are currently required to be kept indefinitely, directly to the ATF.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 23:20

• New Biden Cyber Strategy Takes Aim At China As 'Most Persistent Threat'
  New Biden Cyber Strategy Takes Aim At China As ‘Most Persistent Threat’

  Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Biden administration’s new cybersecurity strategy takes aim at China’s communist regime and other authoritarian powers for subverting the international order through malign cyber activity.

  

  The 2023 National Cyber Strategy, released on March 2, says that communist China and other regimes are attempting to export their own forms of authoritarianism through the use of technology.

  “The governments of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other autocratic states with revisionist intent are aggressively using advanced cyber capabilities to pursue objectives that run counter to our interests and broadly accepted international norms,” the strategy states.

  “Their reckless disregard for the rule of law and human rights in cyberspace is threatening U.S. national security and economic prosperity.”

  China in particular is threatening U.S. interests and dominating emerging technologies critical to global development with the intent of reshaping the world order, the document states.

  “[China] now presents the broadest, most active, and most persistent threat to both government and private sector networks and is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so.”

  “Having successfully harnessed the Internet as the backbone of its surveillance state and influence capabilities, [China] is exporting its vision of digital authoritarianism, striving to shape the global Internet in its image and imperiling human rights beyond its borders.”

  Whole-of-Government Approach to Counter China

  Given the threat posed by authoritarian powers like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the strategy outlines an aggressive posture that the administration seeks to take defending the United States and its interests from foreign interference.

  This new posture, according to the strategy, will integrate cyber, diplomatic, military, intelligence, law enforcement, and other capabilities to target threat actors and remove them from play.

  “The United States will use all instruments of national power to disrupt and dismantle threat actors whose actions threaten our interests,” the strategy states.

  “These efforts may integrate diplomatic, information, military (both kinetic and cyber), financial, intelligence, and law enforcement capabilities.”

  Such integration will bring the United States’ cyber security strategy to more closely resemble the whole-of-society approach being implemented by China and other powers.

  The purpose of such an expansive and integrated system, the document says, is to ensure that malign actors are “incapable of mounting sustained cyber-enabled campaigns that would threaten the national security or public safety of the United States.”

  Likewise, the strategy seeks to expand the role of the federal government in other ways, including by taking a more assertive role in directing the market by federalizing some spending and increasing security regulations and liability laws.

  The approach will focus on “shifting the burden for cybersecurity away from individuals, small businesses, and local governments,” the strategy states, as market forces are “inadequate” to impose the necessary costs on entities that introduce vulnerable products into the digital ecosystem.

  ‘Fundamental Changes’ to Digital Ecosystem

  By making the digital ecosystem more “defensible,” “resilient,” and “values-aligned,” the strategy states, the United States can better defend itself and its partners while also offering an alternative to the authoritarian model of technological governance offered by regimes like the CCP.

  To that end, the strategy is deliberately crafted as an evolution of the cyber framework first established by the Trump administration’s strategy in 2018 and “continues momentum on many of its priorities, including the collaborative defense of the digital ecosystem.”

  As such, the strategy seeks to take a more aggressive stance on cyber threats to national security, and will now classify ransomware attacks as national security threats as opposed to mere criminal challenges, paving the way for a greater range of responses to such threats, including through coordination with international partners.

  The strategy will likewise make fundamental changes to the minimum security requirements for technologies and systems used by vital sectors such as oil and natural gas pipelines, aviation, railways, and water systems.

  Moreover, by leveraging international coalitions and partnerships among like-minded nations and working with allies on shared standards of security, reliability, and privacy, the strategy says, the United States can effectively counter the CCP and other malign actors while promoting a more free technosphere.

  “We must make fundamental changes to the underlying dynamics of the digital ecosystem, shifting the advantage to its defenders and perpetually frustrating the forces that would threaten it,” the strategy states.

  “People and technology are increasingly linked, further enabling the very best, as well as the worst, of humanity.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 23:00

• LA Elites Spend $150,000 For Protection Dogs As Crime Fears Worsen
  LA Elites Spend $150,000 For Protection Dogs As Crime Fears Worsen

  Los Angeles’ wealthiest residents are purchasing protection dogs that cost as much as a slightly used Mercedes G-Wagon over concerns of out-of-control violent crime and the growing homelessness crisis. 

  Los Angeles Times said protection dogs — typically German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Dobermans, Cane Corso, or a mix of those breeds — are being sold by Delta K9 Academy in North Hollywood for as much as $70,000. Some trainers are selling dogs for upwards of $150,000.  

  LA Times spoke with Arteom Bulgadarian, the president of an aerospace manufacturing company, who lives in a multi-million dollar home in Sherman Oaks. He owns several guns and recently had his home wired with surveillance cameras but felt that security layer wasn’t enough. 

  So Bulgadarian contacted Delta K9 and bought a $70,000 2.5-year-old German shepherd bred as an elite protection dog. First, the dog is a family pet but is highly trained to guard the home. 

  “What’s the price that you would put for your family’s security, especially when that particular house has been burglarized?

  “Seventy-thousand dollars — you amortize it over 10 to 15 years, whatever the dog’s life is, and it’s not that big of a price tag,” he said.

  The recent 8% surge in violent crime in LA coincides with the tenure of George Gascon, the ‘woke’ district attorney, who has allegedly emboldened criminals and sparked great anxiety among homeowners, rich and poor. There have been surges in burglaries and property crime, smash-and-grab thefts, and home robberies, leaving some to believe Los Angeles is transforming into a third-world country. 

  

  “Every celebrity client, at one time or another, and billionaire has said to me these exact words: ‘What about a dog?'” Kris Herzog, owner of the Bodyguard Group of Beverly Hills. Herzog said his firm connects customers with security service firms that sell protection dogs for $55,000. He added, “A dog is always my recommendation if you’re not going to have a gun in the house.” 

  LA Times spoke with luxury real estate agent Branden Williams who said elites in Beverly Hills are buying protection dogs. 

  One breeder told the local paper:

  “To be very blunt, our dogs that were born in 2022 are being sold at a price of $150,000… It’s a coveted product.”

  Protection dogs are booming as law and order cracks in metro areas. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 22:40

• Power Shortages Coming Soon To America
  Power Shortages Coming Soon To America

  Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Existing power plants are projected to retire at a faster pace than installations of new units, and dependence on renewable projects are threatening widespread power shortages, according to a new report by regional power transmission company PJM Interconnection.

  

  PJM analysis shows that 40 gigawatts (GW) of existing power generation is at risk of retirement by 2030, accounting for 21 percent of its current installed capacity. Meanwhile, 290 GW worth of new power supply is seeking to connect to PJM’s grid. But 94 percent of this power supply is made up of renewable energy projects that tend to only have a completion rate of 5 percent. This casts doubt on the ability of new power supply to replace old supply. PJM covers 13 eastern states and the District of Columbia.

  PJM also forecasts power demand growth of 1.4 percent annually over the next decade. Certain individual zones might even show demand growth as high as 7 percent per year due to the expansion of clusters of data centers as well as overall electrification.

  The retirement of existing power generation combined with the growing demand for power will create a supply gap.

  According to the report, the pace of new power generation addition will likely be “insufficient” to fill this supply gap by 2030. As such, the completion rates of upcoming projects will have to “increase significantly” to maintain necessary reserve margins, it said.

  Decline in Reserve Margins

  Reserve margin refers to the amount of unused available power capacity of an electric power system. A reserve margin of 10 percent would mean that an entity has excess capacity amounting to 10 percent of peak demand.

  According to PJM projections, the reserve margin could fall from 26 percent in 2023 to 15 percent by 2030 even in the best-case scenario. Reserve margins are critical during times of adverse weather conditions and periods of high demand. A decline suggests less reliability of power.

  “The lopsided energy transition is resulting mainly from Biden’s energy policies and state mandates driving fossil fuel generation to shut down as renewable and storage projects are being developed. These are policy choices by political leaders and utilities are responding as directed,” stated a Mar. 2nd analysis of the PJM report by the Institute for Energy Research (IER).

  Since PJM usually generates a power surplus owing to its large fossil-fuel generation sources, the entity sells excess power to neighboring grids. As such, the retirement of 21 percent of the current installed capacity by 2030 might potentially affect the power situation in these regions as well, it stated.

  Renewable Agenda Effects

  In an article at The Epoch Times on Jan. 12, Kevin Stocklin, a film producer who made the documentary “The Shadow State,” which investigated the environmental, social, governance (ESG) industry, warned that government policies are pushing more Americans onto the U.S. grid at a time when the grid is becoming “increasingly unstable” due to climate change agenda.

  The federal government is providing subsidies for electric vehicles and even contemplating banning gas stoves. Several state governments are passing laws limiting the use of oil and gas while constructing new homes while some have set dates when gasoline-powered cars would be banned.

  In the corporate space, the ESG movement is pressuring companies to adhere to a zero-emissions agenda, he pointed out.

  “All of this makes Americans more dependent on the electric grid at a time when utilities are accelerating the closure of coal and gas-fired plants, leaving the grid increasingly reliant on intermittent wind and solar power. This has sparked warnings from utility infrastructure experts that America’s dash toward renewables could be driving our electric grid toward instability,” Stocklin writes.

  In its 10-year outlook (pdf) analyzing the impact on energy reliability during the energy transition phase, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which seeks to ensure the reliability of bulk power systems in the region, warned of a “high risk of shortfall” in energy during peak conditions in some areas of America.

  The Indiana-based Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. is projecting a shortfall of 1,300 megawatts this summer that will continue to grow over the next 10 years as coal, nuclear, and natural gas generation “retire faster than replacement resources are connecting.”

  If the current power situation is not analyzed properly, and inadequate politically driven policies are adopted, the United States could soon be heading in a similar direction like that of Europe. Homemade bad decisions one after the other created a crisis that was partially averted due to favorable weather this year.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 22:20

• Shocking Baltimore Footage Shows Pursuit, Crash, Building Collapse
  Shocking Baltimore Footage Shows Pursuit, Crash, Building Collapse

  A shocking new video shows a stolen car barreling down a Baltimore City street, striking a vehicle in an intersection, killing a pedestrian, then smashing into a rowhome causing the structure to collapse.

  On Thursday, the Maryland Office of Attorney General (OAG) released the jaw-dropping footage which occurred on Feb. 8 in East Baltimore. The incident happened on North Avenue and North Wolfe Street, an area plagued with lawlessness, one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the country, an opioid crisis that is off the charts, and hundreds, if not thousands, of abandoned homes. Some compare this part of town to a warzone. 

  When the stolen Hyundai hit another vehicle at the intersection, both cars were flung into the building. A nearby pedestrian was hit by one of the cars and was buried by falling rubble. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Five other people were injured, including two in the stolen car. 

  

  OAG released surveillance footage of the intersection. 

  🚨#WATCH: Jaw-Dropping Video Shows a fatal crash, as a Building Collapse During a Police Chase

  📌#Baltimore l #Maryland

  Watch shocking new released footage of a crash that lead to the collapse of a building in East Baltimore last month and left one man dead. After the driver… https://t.co/rNnztAS4ul pic.twitter.com/Vjf8ZQzn16

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 3, 2023

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  The agency also released body camera footage. 

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  🚨#UPDATE: More footage shows the Baltimore Police Department rushing to the scene at the collapse building where the stolen car crashed into another car sadly the Pedestrian died and the driver of the stolen car was taken into custody pic.twitter.com/hH5isc0JNi

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 3, 2023

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  This is another glimpse into Baltimore City, which continues to descend into chaos. The acceleration has been over eight years, beginning with riots in 2015. Also, years of a progressive district attorney and failed Democrat mayors have let criminals back onto the streets. 

  The crime-infested metro area, run by Democrats, had its first big wakeup call earlier this week when Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her election over concerns about violent crime. 

  “When you have an incumbent lose it should be a wakeup call, and it should be a wakeup call to Mayor Scott [mayor of Baltimore] because she lost for many of the reasons people are frustrated in Baltimore,” John Dedie, a local political analyst, told Fox Baltimore. 

  Meanwhile, Baltimore City’s population collapsed to the lowest level in a century. Smart residents aren’t sticking around and moving to the county or elsewhere as the liberal-controlled metro area implodes. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 22:00

• Victor Davis Hanson: The Woke Wrecking Machine
  Victor Davis Hanson: The Woke Wrecking Machine

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via AmGreatness.com,

  Almost everything that has followed from the woke mass hysteria gripping the nation since 2020 has proved disastrous. 

  

  Wokeism destroys meritocracy in favor of forced equality of result – history’s prescription for civilizational decline. 

  If we continue with the woke hiring of administrators, air traffic controllers, ground crews, pilots, and rail workers, there will be even more news of disasters and near-miss airline crashes. 

  Wokeness demands a McCarthyite suppression of free expression. No wonder a woke FBI recently hired out social media censors to suppress stories it deemed unhelpful. 

  Soviet-style, wokeism mandates strict ideological party-line narratives under the cover of “science.” No wonder a woke government lied that requiring vaccines would prevent both infection and infectiousness. 

  Woke substitutes race for class in its eternal neo-Marxist quest to divide permanently the nation along racial lines, between victims and victimizers. 

  Yet wokeism recently has embarrassed itself as never before. 

  Take the COVID pandemic. 

  The Department of Energy has joined the FBI and is now attributing the origins of the pandemic to a leak of a likely engineered virus from the top-security virology lab in Wuhan, China. 

  Wokesters had long suppressed that reality, demonizing any who rejected its orthodox lies and spoke a larger truth: A dystopic China is not our global partner in greening the planet. Criticizing Stalinist China is not “racist.” China is not building a progressive society that is a model for others. 

  The ongoing environmental catastrophe in East Palestine, Ohio, following the train derailment revealed more woke moral bankruptcy. 

  Ostensibly the ensuing toxic spill and noxious plume have poisoned a poor and working-class small town. It should have galvanized the old Democratic Party that once voiced loud support for all green causes and championed the lower American classes. 

  But woke ended all that—substituting racial chauvinism for class concerns and ideology for genuine worry over the environment. 

  Woke dogma mandates that pollution and poverty are no longer concerns—if they affect the white poor who are stereotyped collectively as privileged victimizers. 

  Wokesters insisted that California is the greatest casualty of “climate change” defined as permanent drought.

  Purported climate change required radical new bureaucratic rules and antidemocratic mandates over irrigation supplies, ground water, and contracted water deliveries from public reservoirs.

  But then it rained. And it snowed. And it became terribly cold in supposedly scorching California. 

  Southern California is blanketed in snow. 

  Even so, for much of this cold, wet winter, state officials continued to claim the man-made drought was in full force. But finally, the most recent frigid, wet weather strangled the woke drought—and with it the credibility of our climate change Cassandras. 

  Americans sympathize with Ukraine’s plight as Vladimir Putin seeks to destroy its autonomy. But woke brooked no deviation from the party line that Ukraine’s Volodomyr Zelenskyy is a saint, while Russia is near bankrupt due to sanctions, and doomed to lose the war. 

  Accordingly, the United States was obligated to give Ukraine a veritable blank check given Kyiv’s commitment to freedom. Zelenskyy’s team now even talks of a victorious Ukrainian armored counteroffensive into Moscow’s Red Square. 

  This week, however, we are learning the Russian economy is nearly as strong now as it was before the war. It has mobilized 700,000 troops to ensure that eastern Ukraine becomes a Verdun-like killing field where tens of thousands more will be ground up. 

  Ukraine bars dissidents and maintains a government media monopoly. And the more Joe Biden promises another $2-3 billion in biweekly aid, the more Zelenskyy acts as if it is a pittance given what supposedly stingy Americans should be capable of supplying. 

  Meanwhile, at home, new woke protocols mandate race as essential rather than incidental to the human experience. Supposedly such fixations will heal racial wounds. 

  Under the new reparatory and compensatory diversity, equity, and inclusion rules, those deemed non-white were to be hired and admitted to colleges in greater numbers than their demographics. Even the old mandated proportional representation quotas were no longer enough. 

  But racial chauvinism, nonstop talk of reparations, and the new campus segregation have not resulted in better racial relations. 

  Polls show that there are greater racial tensions than ever before. 

  Data on interracial and hate crimes show even sharper racial disproportionalities. The incidence of both black violent criminal perpetrators and black crime victims are near historical highs. 

  Woke policies of no cash bail, downgrading felonies, and no jail time only spiked violent lawlessness. 

  Our elite universities are now fully woke. Almost weekly an embarrassing story further erodes their credibility and reputation. 

  Ridiculous lists of  taboo words are issued on woke campuses, barring incendiary words like “American” and “immigrant.” 

  Bragging of segregated dorms, graduations, and safe spaces recalls Jim Crow, not woke racial utopias. 

  Grades and standards are deemed counterrevolutionary, even as incompetent graduates increasingly fail to impress employers. 

  Someday wokeism will disappear because it is inherently nihilistic and cannibalistic. 

  But in the meantime, Americans should end it now before it ends America first.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 21:40

• Biden Vows To Ban So-Called Assault Weapons 'Come Hell Or High Water'
  Biden Vows To Ban So-Called Assault Weapons ‘Come Hell Or High Water’

  President Biden on Wednesday said he’ll ban so-called ‘assault weapons’ and high-capacity magazines “come hell or high water” (thus ensuring that criminals are the only ones who have them).

  

  “I know it may make some of you uncomfortable, but that little state above me, Delaware is one of them, has the highest rate, one of the highest rates of gun ownership,” Biden said at the House Democratic Caucus Issues in Baltimore, Maryland on Wednesday night.

  “But guess what? We’re going to ban assault weapons again come hell or high water and high capacity magazines. When we did it last time to reduce mass deaths,” Biden said.

  BIDEN: “Guess what? We’re going to ban assault weapons again come hell or high water. And high-capacity magazines!”

  Guess what? Come and take it. pic.twitter.com/YaKqjTc4Ag

  — Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) March 2, 2023

  Last month the Biden DOJ announced that it would give $231 million to states to be used for crisis intervention, one day after a mass shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

  “These awards will support the kinds of crisis intervention programs that we know save lives and help protect children, families, and communities across the country from senseless acts of gun violence,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

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  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 21:20

• Russia Reducing Dollar Dependence By Relying On Chinese Yuan
  Russia Reducing Dollar Dependence By Relying On Chinese Yuan

  Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times,

  Russia is easing its dependence on the U.S. dollar and quickly growing reliant on the Chinese yuan, which could turn out to be either a boon for Moscow or a substantial risk, experts warn.

  

  Over the last year, the Russian economy has been restricted from Western financial networks and has faced economic and political sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has also been prohibited from using the U.S. dollar, forcing the Kremlin to turn to the Chinese yuan as an alternative.

  President Vladimir Putin has expanded his country’s relations with Beijing, particularly on the energy front.

  Russia’s Exports to Beijing

  “According to the results of this year, Russia has become one of the leaders in oil exports to China,” Putin said at the beginning of a video conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping in December.

  Russia’s exports of discounted crude and fuel oil to China surged to record levels in January, topping the previous high established in April 2020. According to data intelligence firm Kpler, crude and fuel oil flows to China increased to 1.66 million barrels per day to kick off 2023. With the world’s second-largest economy reopening its markets after abandoning its COVID-Zero strategy, market experts anticipate that the energy trade could grow at a far more significant pace.

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Sputnik/Aleksey Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters)

  But while Russia is using the revenues from its sales of discounted energy products to China to fund its war in Ukraine, Beijing benefits in many ways.

  The first is the $13-a-barrel savings on Russian Urals, which presently trade at around $60 per barrel.

  The second is that another significant market is relying on the Chinese yuan.

  Data compiled by The Wall Street Journal show that domestic energy exporters are being paid in yuan. The nation’s sovereign wealth fund, which is a war chest to ensure the Kremlin pays its bills, is utilizing the yuan to maintain its oil-driven revenues. Last summer, major companies, such as aluminum king Rusal, energy giant Rosneft, and lending firm Bistrodengi, began issuing yuan-denominated bonds inside Russia. In addition, a growing number of companies are borrowing capital in yuan, while households have deposited approximately $6 billion worth of Chinese currency in Russian banks.

  With the ruble under attack by the international community and broader discussions about the end of the dollar hegemony, many consumers turned to the yuan for shelter.

  Although dollars and euros still account for most of the Russian export settlements, the prevalence of payments in the yuan and even the ruble is increasing.

  Sanctions on Russia

  Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance announced in February that it would sell more than 5 percent of its yuan stockpile. The Russian government is drawing down from its reserves to cover a budget shortfall driven by a 46 percent year-over-year decline in energy revenues in January.

  Western governments have imposed tighter sanctions on Russia’s petroleum exports, while crude oil prices have slumped on global recession fears and central bank policy tightening. The Urals crude blend is down about 30 percent from a year ago.

  Despite the latest developments, some estimates suggest that drawing down from its yuan reserves could allow Russia to cover its fiscal holes for as long as three years.

  For now, this might be the only option for Putin and Russia. But observers warn that this could have ramifications for Moscow.

  “Russia is swapping its dollar dependence for reliance on the yuan. Should relations with China deteriorate, Russia may face reserve losses and payment disruptions,” wrote Alexandra Prokopenko, an independent analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

  At the same time, Putin may be attempting to improve the ruble’s standing and circumvent Western sanctions by rolling out a digital ruble in April. The Bank of Russia will be working with 13 financial institutions and pre-selected businesses to participate in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project, local news media reported.

  Officials say that Moscow is exploring a new digital format for international settlements as part of broader efforts to manufacture a new financial and monetary system for the post-invasion economy.

  Rise of the Yuan

  Russia’s yuan utilization could be considered progress for China’s greater objective of expanding the yuan’s reach in cross-border commerce.

  In addition to Russia embracing the Chinese currency, more countries are considering settling their trade with China in yuan.

  The Iraqi government confirmed to Reuters that it is taking steps to permit trade from China to be settled directly in yuan amid the nation’s U.S. dollar shortage.

  “It is the first time imports would be financed from China in yuan, as Iraqi imports from China have been financed in [U.S.] dollars only,” said Mudhir Salih, the government’s economic adviser.

  Last year, The Wall Street Journal published a report that stated Saudi Arabia had been considering accepting yuan instead of dollars for Chinese oil sales.

  Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum in January, a Saudi official revealed that the Kingdom is open to discussing trade in currencies other than the greenback.

  “There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the U.S. dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal,” Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said. “I don’t think we are waving away or ruling out any discussion that will help improve the trade around the world.”

  The United Arab Emirates has bolstered bilateral commerce with China, with trade topping $75 billion in 2021.

  This has experts wondering if the Middle East is preparing for a collapse of the petrodollar and is bracing for the rise of the petroyuan.

  “China has shifted its investments into the Gulf. The level of project-based, economic, and military cooperation is surpassing cooperation with the U.S. on many levels, and trade is likewise being reoriented toward China from a balance towards a preferred system,” Irina Tsukerman, a geopolitical analyst and the president of security advisory firm Scarab Rising, told The Epoch Times.

  New Basket Reserve Currency

  But China is even planting a presence in South America after the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced last month that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on establishing yuan clearing arrangements in Brazil.

  Trade between the two nations totaled $172 billion last year.

  However, in June 2022, Putin announced that BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) members were designing a new basket reserve currency that would attempt to undermine the dollar’s dominance. This could be a more realistic option in the intensifying worldwide de-dollarization campaign, Tsukerman says.

  “A mixture of BRICS currencies is a more likely candidate for de-dollarization than the Chinese yuan by itself due to inherent weaknesses in the yuan and China’s own economy. Most countries simply do not see the yuan as reliable enough to make the switch,” she stated.

  ING global head of markets Chris Turner stated in a note that this is likely to “address the perceived U.S.-hegemony of the IMF,” adding that it would “allow BRICS to build their own sphere of influence and unit of currency within that sphere.”

  But Nouriel Roubini, the chief economist at Atlas Capital Team, suggests that the global financial system will grapple with a “bipolar” currency regime that “will eventually replace the unipolar one.”

  Writing in a Financial Times column last month, Roubini purported that the international economy is being fractured by American and Chinese influence. Although some experts aver that China’s rigid currency controls would prevent the yuan from ever surpassing the buck, Roubini believes the U.S. maintains its own unattractive features “among foes and relative friends.”

  “These include financial sanctions against its rivals, restrictions to inward investment in many national security-sensitive sectors and firms, and even secondary sanctions against friends who violate the primary ones,” Roubini wrote.

  According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER), the yuan’s share of total foreign exchange reserves tumbled more than 7 percent year-over-year in the third quarter to below $298 billion. By comparison, the U.S. dollar representation also declined about 9 percent to $6.441 trillion.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 21:00

• EPA Head Admits Kids Should Be Nowhere Near East Palestine Water
  EPA Head Admits Kids Should Be Nowhere Near East Palestine Water

  The aftermath of the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, persists, with residents and rail workers reporting illnesses and the Biden administration facing criticism regarding an inadequate federal response. The 38-car derailment occurred one month ago and resulted in the release of vinyl chloride into the air via a controlled burn, and questions swirl about why testing for dioxins wasn’t conducted immediately after the derailment.

  Earlier this week, EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited East Palestine. He addressed reporters about the ongoing situation. Journalist Nick Sorter asked the commissioner:

  “Mr. Commissioner, let me ask you really quick, would you allow your children to touch the water? We’ve seen the rainbow sheen, we’ve seen all of these chemicals popping up from the bottom of the streams that these kids used to play in. Would you allow your kids anywhere close to these streams right now?”

  Regan’s response:

  “I would not. I’m a father of a 9-year-old. I think we have to all agree we wish this accident didn’t occur, but the accident occurred and as a result some of our creeks and streams have pollution in them.”

  Here’s the video:

  Even the EPA Administrator admits your kids should be NOWHERE NEAR the water here in East Palestine.

  But don’t worry: everything is safe, guys! pic.twitter.com/FVcvZev0hH

  — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 28, 2023

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  On Thursday, environmental activist Erin Brockovich returned to East Palestine for the second time in less than a week. She met with people experiencing health issues after last month’s train derailment. 

  “I have been on a lot of environmental situations, and I have never seen anything in my life be so mismanaged ever,” Brockovich said.

  During last night’s public meeting, about 200 residents showed up in the high school auditorium. Frustration quickly erupted when EPA regional administrator Debra Shore told residents:

  “EPA monitors have not detected any volatile organic compounds above levels of health concerns in the community that are attributable to the train derailment.” 

  The situation worsened when Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw was a no-show again to the public meeting. Instead, Darrell Wilson, an official with Norfolk Southern, attended the meeting. He told concerned residents:

  “We’re ready to start tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. … That is not our decision to make. We are no longer in control of the site.

  “We’re going to do the right thing. We’re going to do the right thing. We’re going to clean up the site. We’re going to clean up the site.”

  While Wilson was speaking, a woman in the crowd yelled:

  “You should have done it right the first time.”

  Another woman told local news WKBN that she experiences headaches inside her home and cannot sell her property due to fears that the next owner’s children may develop cancer. Other residents shared a similar story. 

  Despite residents and workers in the town getting sick and animals dying at surrounding state parks, the EPA only decided on Thursday to enforce Norfolk Southern to test the area for dioxins. 

  It is possible that both the EPA and Norfolk Southern understand the dissipation of dioxins over time, which could be the reason behind the one-month delay in testing for dioxins.

  Unbelievable! An independent chemical engineer says East Palestine was NOT a controlled burn – as evidenced by plumes of black smoke. He also says agencies deliberately tested only for generic carbon byproducts – avoiding tests for dioxins.

  pic.twitter.com/e7D1ec9j1R

  — InsiderHCW 🩺⚕️ (@InsiderHCW) February 23, 2023

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  In an op-ed on The Guardian, Stephen Lester, a toxicologist and the science director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, a project of the People’s Action Institute, wrote, “Here’s the real reason the EPA doesn’t want to test for toxins in East Palestine.”

  The decision to release and burn five tanker cars of vinyl chloride and other chemicals at the site of a 38-car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, just over three weeks ago unleashed a gigantic cloud full of particulates that enveloped surrounding neighborhoods and farms in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

  It is well documented that burning chlorinated chemicals like vinyl chloride will generate dioxins. “Dioxin” is the name given to a group of persistent, very toxic chemicals that share similar chemical structures. The most toxic form of dioxin is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or TCDD. TCDD is more commonly recognized as the toxic contaminant found in Agent Orange and at Love Canal, New York and Times Beach, Missouri, both sites of two of the most tragic environmental catastrophes in US history.

  Dioxin is not deliberately manufactured. It is the unintended byproduct of industrial processes that use or burn chlorine. It is also produced when chemicals such as vinyl chloride are burned such as occurred in East Palestine.

  The organization I work for, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, has worked with communities affected by dioxins for over 40 years. We have seen the impact of exposure to dioxins in communities from Love Canal and Times Beach to Pensacola, Florida. And now, we are asking, why isn’t EPA testing for dioxins in East Palestine, Ohio? Are dioxins present in the soil downwind from the site of the accident?

  At a townhall meeting in East Palestine last week, people talked about what it was like when the black cloud reached their property. One person who lived 15 miles away described burned ash material from the fire that settled on her property. Another who lived 3 miles away described how the black cloud completely smothered his property. Repeatedly people asked: was it safe for my kids to play in the yard? Is it safe to grow a garden? What is going to happen to my farm animals?

  These are important questions that deserve to be answered. Today there are no clear answers. Why? Because no one has done any testing for dioxins anywhere in East Palestine. No one. And, it seems, that the EPA is uninterested in testing for dioxins, behaving as though dioxin is no big deal.

  This makes no sense. Testing for dioxin, a highly toxic substance, should have been one of the first things to look for, especially in the air once the decision was made to burn the vinyl chloride. There is no question that dioxins were formed in the vinyl chloride fire. They would have formed on the particulate matter – the black soot – in the cloud that was so clearly visible at the time of the burn. Now, the question is how much is in the soil where people live in and around East Palestine. Without testing, no one will know and the people who live there will remain in the dark, uncertain about their fate.

  This is important because of the adverse health effects associated with exposure to dioxins. Exposure to dioxins can cause cancer, reproductive damage, developmental problems, type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, infertility in adults, impairment of the immune system and skin lesions.

  The EPA is very familiar with dioxins. For more than 25 years, the agency evaluated and assessed the risks posed by exposure to dioxins. They published multiple draft reports on the health effects caused by exposure to dioxins. They published an inventory of dioxin sources and devoted an enormous amount of time to studying dioxins. The agency knows this chemical very well.

  So why is EPA unwilling to test for dioxins in the soil? My guess is because they know they will find it. And if they find it, they’ll have to address the many questions people are asking. It will not be easy to interpret the results of the testing for dioxins in soil, but to avoid testing is irresponsible. The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. Clearly the situation in East Palestine is the place where EPA should follow its mission and do right by the people who live in this town. EPA must test the soil in East Palestine for dioxins.

  The people who live there need to know so they can make informed decisions about their future.

  Also on Thursday, again a month later, President Biden said he would visit East Palestine “at some point.” 

  East Palestine is ‘Biden’s Katrina.’ That is poor timing on the administration’s part, considering the presidential election cycle is about to begin. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 20:40

• Los Angeles Police Union Says Officers Should No Longer Respond To Certain Calls
  Los Angeles Police Union Says Officers Should No Longer Respond To Certain Calls

  Authored by Jamie Joseph via The Epoch Times,

  As the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) grapples with understaffing and slow emergency response times, the city’s police union – the Los Angeles Police Protective League representing over 9,000 sworn personnel – submitted a list this week to the Los Angeles City Council of 28 non-emergency calls that it believes should be diverted to unarmed responders.

  

  The list – which includes nonviolent homeless and mental health-related calls – will allow officers to prioritize and respond more swiftly to critical emergencies and higher profile crimes, the union said March 1 in a statement to the media, and allow nonprofit workers and other city agencies to respond instead. The outline was sent to the city as part of its labor contract negotiations.

  Union spokesperson Tom Saggau told The Epoch Times it took several months to put the list together, and it was not a joint effort with the LAPD.

  “Police officers are sent to too many calls that are better suited for unarmed service providers,” Craig Lally, the union’s president said in a statement to the media.

  “We believe that in order to maximize the potential benefits of this new response model, it’s important that the initial list of calls where police officers will cease responding to is robust.”

  Other types of calls on the union’s list include issues such as parking violations, tenant disputes, dog complaints where no attack has occurred, illegal gambling, public defecation or urination, panhandling, calls to schools for nonviolent juvenile disturbances, welfare checks, nonviolent incidents at city parks, under the influence cases where no other crime is involved, public drinking, and cleanups of encampments.

  Union director and former LAPD officer, Debbie Thomas said during a news conference March 1 that “police officers are not psychologists, we are not psychiatrists, we are not mental health experts.”

  “We are not social workers, doctors, nurses or waste management experts,” she said.

  LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement to the Associated Press that alternative policing has “already diverted thousands of calls away from a police response,” allowing officers to conserve limited resources for more serious calls.

  Moore began asking retired officers in January to consider returning to the force amid a staffing shortage. As of mid-February, the department is down by 233 officers, according to a department personnel report.

  It currently has around 9,200 officers, but 600 are expected to leave in 2024, a 20 percent increase over 2022.

  …

  The union’s proposal aligns with the city’s recent consideration of alternative means of policing in several categories, particularly when dealing with the homeless and mentally ill.

  …

  Los Angeles is not the first to consider a shift to such.

  New York City, San Francisco, Portland, and Olympia, Washington have also implemented or considered deploying unarmed response teams in recent years.

  Dispatching mental health specialists instead of police officers to substance abuse and nonviolent emergencies in Denver showed a 34 percent reduction in low-level crime, according to a 2022 study published in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed research publisher.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 20:20

• Will DeSantis Rescue Republicans Or Let Them Down?
  Will DeSantis Rescue Republicans Or Let Them Down?

  Authored by A.B.Stoddard via RealClearPolitics.com,

  Unfortunately for Ron DeSantis, expectations of him could not be higher. For a critical mass of Republicans seeking to move past Donald Trump, the Florida governor is already the anointed savior. While Trump still holds the lead in most polling, DeSantis is almost always second choice and is the favorite for many Republicans who want a new standard bearer because they believe Trump can’t win.

  

  Though he has not yet launched a campaign, and his allies say he would not until the state legislature completes its session in May, DeSantis definitely wants us all to think he will soon be a presidential candidate. He has a new book out, there have been more visits outside of the Sunshine State, more interviews on Fox News, and more use of state power to curb a bunch of things he opposes as “wokeism.”

  His book is titled “The Courage To Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.” It isn’t subtle.

  This wouldn’t be just any presidential run. The Republican Party has been remade by Trump, and he remains in control of a solid portion of its base. Because Trump could prevail in winner-take-all primaries with only a plurality of the vote like he did in 2016, DeSantis will have to catch fire immediately so other contenders feel pressure to drop out and back him in a two-man race.

  Thus far DeSantis has shown impressive discipline, refusing to answer any of Trump’s provocations – from nicknames like “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Meatball Ron” to an insinuation DeSantis behaved inappropriately while teaching high school girls early in his career.

  DeSantis avoids the political fray, refusing to weigh in on most everything that happens in Washington or Mar-a-Lago. DeSantis has proven a competent and effective governor, not only in his response to COVID but in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. But he has put himself on the Republican map by meticulously building a record to thrill and delight the MAGA right with his curriculum culture wars and is running to the right of Trump on vaccines.

  Is he canny enough to please the populist right in the Party of Trump, then win over a general election that has rejected Trump, his party, and his candidates in 2018, 2020, and 2022? Unlike Trump, DeSantis has won over many Democrats with increased teacher pay, funding to restore the Everglades, and his stewardship of the state through the COVID pandemic when he largely kept Florida open.

  But there are concerns among some Republicans that DeSantis could scare off enough independent voters in the primary to lose the general election. Sen. Chris Murphy recently told the Washington Post that DeSantis is “using government to manipulate and micromanage our lives,” in ways that are “Orwellian” and “creepy,” and suggested that should provide an opportunity for Democrats.

  The road to the White House is paved with land mines and will test DeSantis’ political instincts. Apparently a demanding boss, he has had trouble with staff turnover, according to reporting by Politico, and a number of former staffers formed a “support group” in 2021. Campaign experts have questioned whether someone who doesn’t have a cadre of loyal aides, and tends to trust only his wife, can run a successful presidential campaign on the first try.

  He will also have to play an insider and outsider game in both the primary and the general that is hard to define in the era of Trump. Did DeSantis know what he was doing when he chose to endorse Harmeet Dhillon in the race to chair the Republican National Committee even though it was clear Ronna McDaniel would win? Perhaps that was meant to help his street cred with MAGA voters, but the truth is that Trump has deeply co-opted the RNC, and supported McDaniel despite objections from Rep. Matt Gaetz & Co.

  Was that the move of a political genius or a novice? And does DeSantis know how cringeworthy and over the top this ad was that informed us he was chosen by God?

  DeSantis has also refused to do interviews with the mainstream media, something Trump has always done no matter how much he rails against them. DeSantis is not naturally charming, and often appears grumpy in public. Behind closed doors, he isn’t a good schmoozer either. Trump is a showman, craving adoration and loving the stage. Trump is also a brawler whose attacks aren’t limited by decency or dignity. Should DeSantis wilt in the face of Trump’s attacks, and fail to be that “fighter” he sold himself to be, he will have to hope primary voters prefer competence over performance and don’t reject him for the reigning alpha.

  A powerful juggernaut also requires a deft balancing act. Too much consolidation around DeSantis could tip the scales back to Trump – if the entire donor class, Fox News Channel, the Club for Growth, and the rest of the GOP establishment back DeSantis, Trump will once again be the outsider. Headlines about Jeb Bush endorsing DeSantis help Trump.

  Right now, he’s everyone’s favorite horse – but DeSantis doesn’t get to place or show. He has to win. It’s vanquish Trump or go down as a great disappointment.

  For a 44-year-old incumbent who just won reelection handily, waiting until 2028 after a second Biden term (or after a second Trump term), would be far easier than taking on this primary battle. But waiting, and passing one’s “moment,” is considered a kiss of death in politics. Presidential contenders are expected to have the guts to jump in when everyone else wants them to, and to ride the momentum or else. But for DeSantis, a primary win could still invite a bitter end, if Trump refuses to endorse him and boycotts the general election. In a close presidential contest, like 2020 or 2016, Trump could convince even a small percentage of GOP voters to sit it out and doom DeSantis.

  Ron DeSantis better make sure he has an end game.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 19:40

• Hunter Biden Linked To Chinese Military Firm Helping Russia Fight Ukraine
  Hunter Biden Linked To Chinese Military Firm Helping Russia Fight Ukraine

  Hunter Biden’s investment firm, BHR Partners, did business with a CCP-owned military company that’s now sending fighter jet parts to a sanctioned Russian defense conglomerate, thus assisting the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine.

  

  BHR – which counted Hunter as a 10% stakeholder, worked with AVIC automotive – a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, to buy Michigan-based Henniges Automotive in September of 2015, the Washington Examiner‘s Jerry Dunleavy reports.

  The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2023 that AVIC subsidiary AVIC International Holding Corporation had shipped “$1.2 million worth of parts for Su-35 jet fighters” to sanctioned Russian defense conglomerate Rostec subsidiary Kret on Oct. 24, 2022. Although a number of Chinese companies have been sanctioned over Russia’s war in Ukraine, AVIC is not one of them. AVIC’s provision of Su-35 jet fighter parts to Russia is notable.

  The Ukrainian military claimed in August 2022 that the Russians had lost roughly two dozen Su-35 jets during the war at that point. The Rand Corporation said in October 2022 that Russia needed to replace Su-35s lost in combat but that sanctions were hurting its ability to do so. -Washington Examiner

  Hunter Biden’s lawyer claimed in November 2021 that Hunter “no longer holds any interest, directly or indirectly, in either BHR or Skaneateles,” an LLC owned by Hunter that held his 10% BHR stake.

  Yet in September 2015, it was already publicly known that AVIC was working with several companies tied to the Russian military, including Rostec, and that these companies were under sanctions tied to the annexation of Crimea in early 2014.

  BHR, meanwhile, said in September 2015 that it was “delighted to announce” the joint purchase of Henniges for $600 million in collaboration with AVIC.

  The deal between AVIC and Rostec was inked in December 2014. In an announcement related to the agreement, Rostec boasted of “joint projects in aircraft, helicopter, and engine production,” and that “cooperation with Chinese partners is part of Rostec Corporation’s strategic plan.”

  “We particularly value cooperation with AVIC,” the Rostec statement continued.

  Then in May of 2015, Rostec subsidiary Russian Helicopters announced that they had a deal with AVIC to create “an advanced heavy helicopter.” The agreement was signed in the Kremlin by each company’s CEO, “in the presence of” Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin – and which Rostec said was “an important component of Russian-Chinese collaboration.”

  Seven AVIC subsidiaries were sanctioned in December 2020 when the U.S. government determined they were “military end users.” Rostec was sanctioned again by the Treasury Department in June 2022 following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine that year, with the U.S. saying the sanctions “will weaken Russia’s ability to continue its aerial assault on Ukraine.” -Washington Examiner

  Former AVIC CEO Lin Zuoming said at the time that the joint collaboration “will have a positive influence on the development of China’s helicopter industry.”

   

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 19:20

• 10 Shocking Public Freakouts That Will Have You Shaking Your Head
  10 Shocking Public Freakouts That Will Have You Shaking Your Head

  Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

  Have you noticed that people seem to be a lot more prone to losing their temper these days?

  In a civilized society, those that disagree are supposed to resolve their differences in a calm, rational manner.  But now we live in a world where people fly into a rage at the slightest provocation.  Without a doubt, the last several years have been rough on everyone, and I have never seen as much anger and frustration as I am witnessing right now. 

  So what will our society look like if conditions continue to deteriorate and people just keep getting even angrier and even more frustrated?

  

  Let me share some examples that will demonstrate precisely what I am talking about.  The following are 10 shocking public freakouts that will have you shaking your head…

  #1 I don’t know exactly what is going on here, but I love the part where he smashes his own sunglasses…

  Nothing screams airport freak out like Eminem’s 2010 smash hit “Not Afraid”

  pic.twitter.com/hAR7sB5Epk

  — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 1, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  #2 This is not a video game. This is actually how people drive in real life…

  GTA 6 looks amazing 😳 pic.twitter.com/6vASAXKwYc

  — vids that go hard (@vidsthatgohard) February 28, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  #3 This is what can happen when you use “the wrong pronoun” in America today…

  Someone got misgendered in the room and all hell broke loose pic.twitter.com/nAocDH5NDe

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 28, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  #4 Randi Weingarten is quite upset that the Supreme Court might overturn the student loan debt forgiveness program…

  Randi Weingarten — union cartel boss and Democrats’ biggest campaign donor — melts down on the steps of the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/9RTbxVxQEL

  — Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) February 28, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  #5 Apparently he is quite determined to keep conservatives away from his library…

  Librarian refers to Conservatives who don’t want porn and LGBTQ+ propaganda in libraries as “pests” pic.twitter.com/A0Cjs2M9j2

  — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 10, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  #6 Why would you film yourself doing this?…

  pic.twitter.com/LByfwbwBEo

  — Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) March 1, 2023

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  #7 This is what happened when a crazy woman was confronted for cutting in line…

  Customer cuts in line and is called out for it, and has MAJOR freak out! Tell me who you voted for, without telling me!! #snowflake #liberal #democrat #FreakOut pic.twitter.com/1X883hKkQ6

  — YouDontHaveToWatch (@StarsAndBars123) September 25, 2022

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  #8 Pete Buttigieg’s team really did not like being asked questions about why it took him so long to finally get to East Palestine…

  WATCH: Sec. Pete Buttigieg’s team FREAKS OUT when asked why it took him almost 3 weeks to come and speak to residents of East Palestine. His press secretary BEGS reporter to turn off the cameras.

  Source: Savanah Hernandez @ Frontlines Show pic.twitter.com/IKatLEunbs

  — Maine Republican Patriot Cory Reynolds (@RepublicanCoryR) February 24, 2023

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  #9 She didn’t take it very well when she learned that Roe v. Wade had been overturned…

  Another raging screaming liberal.
  Because they think a temper tantrum will change things. #thewokeleft #abortion #radicalleftagenda #adultchildren pic.twitter.com/prHereSrjY

  — Dumb Libtards (@_dumblibtards) November 11, 2022

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  #10 Do you remember when words still actually meant something?…

  Trans looses it when this guy states that he would have to be gay to have sex with a “trans woman” because they are a biological man. 🔥🔥👇 pic.twitter.com/vfmGJ8MZ3u

  — 🇺🇸Will🇺🇸 (@notBilly) February 22, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  *  *  *

  It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 19:00

• Iran President Says Foreign Enemies Behind Poisonings At Girls' Schools
  Iran President Says Foreign Enemies Behind Poisonings At Girls’ Schools

  The story of the alleged poison gas attacks targeting girls’ schools across Iran has just gotten even more bizarre, after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a Friday televised speech pointed the finger at foreign adversaries conducting a covert plot. 

  “This is a security project to cause chaos in the country whereby the enemy seeks to instill fear and insecurity among parents and students,” Raisi said, in what is typically code for Israel and the US.

  

  According to Al Jazeera, “He did not say who those enemies were, although Iranian leaders habitually accuse the United States and Israel, among others, of acting against it.”

  In another strange development: 

  Separately, a senior Iranian official said a fuel tanker found next to a school in a Tehran suburb and which had also been spotted in two other cities was probably involved in the poisonings.

  Authorities seized the tanker and arrested its driver, said Reza Karimi Saleh, the deputy governor of the Pardis suburb.

  Girls in up to 15 cities have been affected, Iranian authorities have said, in what are suspected to be mass poisonings. There’s been an estimated 30 incidents.

  There’s currently speculation that an unknown entity, possibly hardline Islamists, may be throwing some type of poisonous gas mixture into schools and school yards, causing dozens of girls at a time to fall ill. The bizarre incidents began being reported back in November.

  School girls have reported feeling headaches and nausea, and there have been some reports of individuals experiencing temporary paralysis of their limbs.

  The incidents have lately begun to gain international media attention, with the United Nations weighing in at the end of this week. Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told a briefing “We’re very concerned about these allegations that girls are being deliberately targeted under what appear to be mysterious circumstances” – and urged a thorough investigation.

  As for Raisi’s newest allegations that it may be a foreign entity behind the poison attacks, Tehran has long had reason to be paranoid given the number of very real Israeli covert attacks inside the country, including everything from sabotage of nuclear facilities to assassinations of nuclear scientists in recent years. 

  However, Islamic hardliners have long been known to attack women either in the workplace or at school, given they believe that women should not have a visible place in the public sphere.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 18:40

• Interest Rates: The Silent Killer
  Interest Rates: The Silent Killer

  Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,

  This article is about why interest rates and bond yields are rising and why they will continue to rise, threatening to undermine the entire western banking system.

  Rising bond yields are deferring the prospect of a central bank pivot away from fighting inflation to tackling a widely expected recession. Anyway, these expectations wrongly assume that price inflation will fall in a recession, leading to lower interest rates.

  History tells us that monetary debasement, rising prices and a slump in business activity go together. Indeed, a slump in economic activity is almost certain, but interest rates will continue to rise reflecting declining purchasing powers for fiat currencies. There is nothing the monetary authorities can do to prevent it, and consequently a cyclical banking crisis, this time including both central and commercial banking systems, is bound to result.

  In this article, I point out the consequences of not understanding the true role of interest rates, the fallacies surrounding commodity price formation, and why a general glut cannot happen, which according to the Keynesians drives recessions.

  Blaming inflation on Russia or other external forces cuts no ice. Our crisis is entirely of our own making. Rising interest rates are our silent killer.

  

  Introduction

  Central banks were happy to suppress interest rates, even into negative territory, so long as the heavily managed consumer price inflation statistic was rising at an annualised rate of two per cent or so. But the expansion of credit during the covid pandemic changed that, with prices subsequently leaping above the two per cent target. The new price trend first became evident in mid-2020 in both producer and consumer prices. And when NATO decided to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year ago by cutting off this major energy and commodity supplier from global markets, prices soared, and interest rate suppression policies backfired.

  The last time the Fed tried to let interest rates “normalise” and quantitative tightening replaced easing was before the covid pandemic. It raised its funds rate to the then dizzy heights of 2.25%–2.5% in mid-2019, leading to a repo crisis that September, and a stock market crash when the S&P 500 Index lost one-third in just five weeks between February and mid-March. QE then returned with a vengeance and the Fed funds rate was pinned to the zero bound for fully two years. And now it stands at 4.25%—5%, double the level which led to the 2020 market crisis, which was in more benign conditions.

  The only thing that stands in the way of a new market crash is hope; hope that the inflation dragon is little more than a magical puff of the imagination. Initially, we were told inflation is transient. Then we were told and are still being told that it would definitely return to the 2% target, only it will take a little longer…

  It is a story of which the market is now getting tired. After consolidating earlier rises in late-2022, bond yields are rising again, signalling that international investors and speculators are losing the faith. Figure 1 below illustrates the position for dollar bonds.

  

  The generous gap between higher short and lower long-term yields is a measure of investors’ hope that in time interest rates will decline with the rate of inflation. A negative yield curve (positive being the normal condition) is said to foreshadow a forthcoming recession. In Keynesian terms, it indicates that the prospect of a general glut of product arriving on the market and insufficient consumer demand will lead to a decline in prices. It is an argument based on unsound reasoning more than evidential fact, but so long as investors imagine it, they continue to maintain their overall bullishness. For them, normality is consumer price inflation returning to a normal 2%, interest rates falling back towards the zero bound and credit expanding again.

  An underlying assumption is that all changes in prices emanate from the supply and demand for goods, and that the purchasing power of the currency is a constant. But when the quantity of a fiat currency and associated credit expands massively and given the vagaries of human evaluation, this cannot be true.

  In a ring-fenced economy, where domestic investors are the only players, the Keynesian fairy tale can persist for longer than any objective analysis suggests is reasonable. But major economies are interconnected in multiple ways, and foreign perceptions can and do differ from the domestic. At some point, the foreigners’ patience in a currency with suppressed interest rates and falling purchasing power becomes lost and the currency is sold down, unless the monetary authorities wise up to their errors and raise interest rates sufficiently to protect the currency. And when all major central banks try to protect their currencies from foreign selling by following similar inflationary policies, foreigners tend to do two things. They reduce their exposure to foreign currencies by buying back their own so that they are not exposed to foreign exchange risk, and they buy other things which they may need in future, stockpiling gold and commodities simply to get out of depreciating currencies.

  There is no doubt that the currency to which foreigners are most exposed is the dollar. When they turn sellers, it is usually an unpleasant surprise for domestic investors, who have learned to live with statist mismanagement. For foreigners, the wake-up call is most likely to emanate from yet higher interest rates, being signalled by an emerging higher yield trend on the 10-year US Treasury note.

  This article examines the factors which set interest rates, as well as the errors driving central bank monetary policies. It then follows up with a brief analysis of the parlous condition of banking systems, and the consequences of their failure.

  The truth about interest rate mismanagement

  

  According to official monetary policy, interest rates regulate the demand for credit. But M3, which is the widest measure of currency and bank credit appears to show little or no correlation with swings in interest rates over the entire history of the purely fiat dollar (i.e., following the suspension of Bretton Woods). There might appear to be some correlation following the suppression of rates to the zero bound in early-2020. But an examination of events shows that the increase in M3 was the consequence of accelerated quantitative easing and bank deposits enlarged in a helicopter drop into individuals’ bank accounts. It had little to do with interest rates.

  In recent months, the rise in the Fed funds rate has accompanied a contraction in M3, but to a large extent this contraction represents a withdrawal of credit from financial activities, which is not a policy objective. Undoubtedly, banks have become aware of increased lending risk, an awareness which is examined later in this article. But some of the deposits which would otherwise make up the M3 total have been diverted into reverse repos at the Fed by banks lacking balance sheet capacity to take them in, reducing the M3 total from what it would otherwise be by some $2 trillion. 

  The evidence from Figure 2 raises other important questions. Should policy planners stick with managing interest rates as the primary method of inflation control by pricing credit? Why is it that interest rates do not correlate with the quantity of money and credit: does that mean that interest rates do not represent the price of credit? Does this lack of correlation portend a policy failure?

  Resolving these questions is now an urgent priority. Price inflation everywhere has erupted suddenly at a time when economies in all the major jurisdictions, according to the mainstream, appear likely to need further stimulus. The probable policy outcome will be to continue to raise interest rates, however reluctantly, while remaining free to expand the quantities of currency and credit to support economic activity, government spending, and to resolve systemic failures. In effect, that there is a link between interest rates and total credit is about to be denied by the monetary establishment itself in the pursuit of a solution.

  We have moved on from the Volcker years when the inflation remedy was to raise interest rates to levels which fully discounted inflation expectations. Today the overall debt situation, which has become hyper-sensitive to interest rate rises, is more serious than it has ever been. The solution whereby central banks can print their way out of interest rate increases without collapsing their currencies appears to be a short-term illusion when the role of interest rates is properly understood. To understand why, we must answer the question posed in Figure 2 above about the non-correlation between interest rates and the quantities of currency and credit. Only then can we truly appreciate the extent of the fallacies driving contemporary monetary policies and the likely consequences.

  Interest rates reflect time preference and monetary depreciation

  If there is one reason why the state always fails in its monetary policies, it is the inability of the bureaucratic mind to incorporate time into decision-making. In the productive market economy, which is little more than a name for the collective actions of transacting individuals and their businesses, time is probably the most important factor. A producer incorporates time in his profit calculations, as does a consumer in his needs and desires, whether wanting something immediately or being prepared to defer his purchase. And because money is the link between both earnings and spending on one hand and savings and investment on the other, time is of the essence for money as well. It is this irrefutable fact that leads to a preference for money to be possessed sooner rather than later. And if a saver is to part with it temporarily to be returned later, naturally he or she will expect compensation for the loss of its utility.

  Fundamentally, this is what interest rates in the market economy represent. It is the time preference factor, set between transacting humans, which values possession in the future less than possession today. To pure time preference, narrowly defined as the evaluation of the loss of possession, we can add an element for counterparty risk. And when transacting humans anticipate a fall in purchasing power before money owed is returned, that is yet another factor which in fiat currencies can become the most important variable. 

  The common central bank target for price inflation of 2% implies that interest compensation to include an element of time preference, counterparty risk, and monetary depreciation suggests a base case of perhaps 3%–4% deposit interest would be required to encourage savings to remain in a bank account. Taxation of interest income would add to this level. 

  US consumer prices are currently rising at 6.2% officially, the rate having been somewhat higher. But that 6.2% rate is an assumption because we can only talk of the general level of prices in the abstract. It cannot be calculated, only assessed, leaving room for statistical meddling. We can only guess at the true rate of currency depreciation and what the level of interest rates should therefore be. And we can be certain that the central bank’s opinion is biased by both political objectives and analysis biased by statist theories of money.

  For now, bond markets assume that the Fed has complete control over policy outcomes. And that a yield of less than 4% for the 10-year Treasury note is fair. But if price inflation remains persistently high, then there is going to be a bond-market led crash as their bond yields gravitate towards a level determined by the sum of time preference, currency depreciation, and escalating counterparty risk. And we should note that foreigners to the US hold some $12 trillion of portfolio investments in addition to $6.4 trillion Treasury bonds, $1.3 trillion Agency bonds, $4 trillion in corporate bonds, in all $23.6 trillion, to which must be added bank deposits, commercial and Treasury bills totalling a further $7.1 trillion.[ii]

  Over $30 trillion is not a trivial amount for foreigners facing rising dollar interest rates. Not only are they not obtaining satisfactory interest compensation on their dollars, but so long as they retain them, they will find that they are increasingly enmeshed in the dollar’s problems.

  The situation in other financialised fiat-driven economies gives no comfort either. Despite the declining purchasing power of the Japanese yen reflected in a CPI currently rising at 4.2% annually, the Bank of Japan still insists on negative interest rates. At minus 0.19%, one-month rates have been in negative territory for the last seven years. The BoJ is struggling to keep the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds capped at 0.5%. With consumer price inflation at current levels, I calculate that the 10-year JGB should be priced more than 30% below current levels. Mark to market valuations at this level would leave the entire Japanese banking system bankrupt and leave the Japanese government facing an impossible interest bill. The entire Japanese banking system, its currency, and economy would be lucky to survive in its current form.

  Eurozone yields are on the rise as well, with important bond yields rising to new highs. This is illustrated in Figure 3.

  

  Part of the problem is that despite growing signs of a recession in western economies, China is awakening from extended covid lockdowns and a domestic property crisis with credit growth returning. As the sun sets in the west, it is rising in the east. China’s energy and commodity requirements will grow significantly in the coming years, which is why she has secured long-term gas and oil supply agreements with Qatar and Saudi Arabia respectively.

  Analysts are becoming aware of the Chinese factor, leading to expectations that price inflation in the west will persist for longer. But they still point to a recession in Europe and America as leading to reduced consumer demand and a glut of unsold goods. We now need to explode this myth, that a recession occurs when consumers reduce their spending, leading to a general glut of products and therefore declining consumer prices.

  The glut fallacy

  The confusion over whether a glut can arise increases when a recession, or a slump in an economy develops. Macroeconomists expect prices to fall due to a slump in demand: in other words, they anticipate a general surplus of production remaining unsold. 

  There might be a negative price effect from inventory liquidation, but that is only a short-term effect. And today, with just-in-time inventory practices, the price effects from inventory liquidation are short-lived and relatively minor.

  The error in Keynes’s general glut proposition comes from his denial of Say’s law, or the law of the markets, which tells us that consumers earn salaries and make profits from their labour producing goods and services. Should they find themselves unemployed, the loss of earnings will also reflect a loss of production. Both tend to decline in tandem. While production still funds consumption and a balance between them is maintained, the Keynesian view that a recession leads to a general glut ­– as opposed to a temporary glut in some products – is untenable. 

  Because the onset of a recession is expected to lead to commodity surpluses on the market, a fall in the value of commodities might appear to lead to price declines even if Say’s law is admitted. Oil and gas prices are particularly volatile in this respect, despite extraction volumes being relatively insensitive to changes in demand. And miners of precious and base metals often respond initially to commodity price weakness by increasing extraction to compensate, which can lead to further price declines. However, relationships between commodity prices and recessions are not that straightforward.

  Figure 4 shows the price of WTI oil in US dollars and officially designated recessions. It should be borne in mind that evidence of a downturn in economic activity is telegraphed well ahead of the event (as is the case today) and theoretically markets will factor in a recession even before then. According to macroeconomic dogmas, allowing for these factors oil prices should fall ahead of an officially designated recession and pick up when a recession begins to end. 

  That being the case, the price increase from $16 in 1979 to $40 in 1980 should not have occurred. And the price increase from $18 to $35 in 1990 is similarly against the grain. But most spectacular was the move from $58 in 2007 to $140 in June 2008 in the middle of an officially designated recession.

  There are examples the other way, and wars and financial crises also distort the relationship. But a clear correlation between the two does not exist. And where a correlation might be claimed, the price effects of recessions on oil and other commodities were probably exaggerated by speculative activity in derivatives, which even drove WTI prices briefly into negative territory in April 2020.

  

  Widely ignored by market analysts and economists alike are price changes emanating from changes in a fiat currency’s valuation. The situation today is of unanchored, unsound credit. And given the sheer volatility of prices measured in fiat currencies, price changes appear to emanate from the currencies to a far greater extent than the commodities themselves. This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from our next chart in Figure 5, which is of oil priced in both fiat dollars and gold, the latter being the ultimate legal money in both Roman law and its modern successors for the last 1,800 years.

  

  The value of gold itself has not been immune to influences emanating from fiat currencies and financial speculation in derivatives, imparting volatility into gold prices which would not otherwise exist. Nevertheless, priced in legal money oil prices have been remarkably stable.

  Therefore, while we can postulate that variations in commodity prices through booms and busts may or might not give the appearance of individual commodity shortages and gluts, the clear evidence is that the price volatility seen in commodity values is in fiat currencies themselves to a far greater extent than in commodity values. And therefore, when these distortions are allowed for, they are not evidence of a commodity glut. Furthermore, empirical evidence of wholesale prices from the booms and slumps during the nineteenth century under gold coin standards confirms our analysis.

  The difference between energy and commodity prices valued in a fiat currency as opposed to gold is not due to a supposed recession-induced glut, but due to changes in the availability of credit. This is what many contemporary economists, most notably followers of Keynes, failed to understand in their desire to dismiss free markets.

  The banking situation

  The majority by far of a circulating medium is commercial bank credit. Central bank credit in public circulation consisting entirely of bank notes usually accounts for less than ten per cent of broad money M3 or M2, the balance being bank deposit liabilities. Even though central banks pretend that their bank notes are money, this is untrue because they are a liability of a central bank and therefore counterparty credit.

  In the case of the US dollar, bank notes in circulation represent 10.8% of M3. But various estimates put the true number at roughly half that, when dollar bank notes circulating abroad and those lost are considered. Therefore, 95% of dollar denominated circulating medium in the US economy is bank credit, and the lending behaviour of the commercial banking cohort is the most important determinant of economic activity.

  In the initial stages of a period of rising interest rates, business is good for banks with margins for credit tending to improve. We have seen this recently, with bank profits and their share prices having risen significantly in 2022. But this is a temporary phase, inevitably followed by concern on the effects of yet higher interest rates on economic calculation. Businesses which factored lower interest rates into their calculations find that their plans begin to go awry. Bankers are aware of this problem through their own monitoring of business conditions.

  Previously, they will have expanded their balance sheets in favourable lending conditions, so that the ratio of balance sheet assets to the bank’s liability to its shareholders is bound to be higher than normal. And while in good times this enhances returns to shareholders, in bad times it rapidly destroys shareholder value. It is high balance sheet leverage which makes bankers hypersensitive to changing lending conditions. By way of confirmation, Figure 6 below shows the relationship between lending intentions and periods of recession for the US banking system.

  

  Clearly, every recession has been preceded by a tightening of loan standards, indicating that it is the restriction, or contraction of bank credit which leads to recessions every time. The reason is that the GDP measure of growth and recession reflect changes in the level of total transactions in the economy, so it is always a measure of credit deployed, and not as is generally supposed, economic progress or regression.

  At this stage of the credit cycle, caution in bank lending becomes driven by fear of non-performing loans, the damage of which can rapidly eliminate shareholders’ funds for a highly leveraged bank balance sheet. The charts in Figure 7 further justify bankers’ caution with respect to lending policies.

  

  The ratios above are derived from The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and are updated to last September (the next release is due later this month). In the first graph, we see that the ratio of equity capital to assets for all bank categories shows increased leverage from the last banking crisis when Lehman failed. The most highly leveraged group is the largest banks, additionally exposed to falling financial asset values.

  It is this leverage ratio which affects returns to shareholders most. But for regulatory purposes it is the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET-1) ratio that matters. CET-1 is defined as common shares, stock surpluses from issuing common shares, retained earnings, unrealised gains and losses reported in the equity section of the balance sheet, and some other similar items. Excluded is goodwill, tax credits, and preference capital. The ratio is determined with risk-adjusted assets in accordance with the net stable funding ratio, which classifies sources of funding and their application. Other risk factors also apply.

  It is therefore impossible for outsiders to assess the true banking position of individual banks from a regulatory point of view. But we can assume that if a bank is in danger of breaching regulatory capital minimums it will be forced to either raise more shareholders’ capital or liquidate loans. And it should be noted that nearly all of the large international banks in Japan and Europe have capitalisations significantly under book value, eliminating the prospect of additional shareholder funding, except in a capital reconstruction crisis such as recently seen in the case of Credit Suisse.

  The second FDIC chart in Figure 7 is also disturbing, showing the increasing proportion of long-term loan commitments which signals declining liquidity. Traditionally, this concern has been expressed as evidence of lack of a bank’s solvency or borrowing short to lend long. In a banking crisis, it becomes a fundamental public concern which leads to runs on individual banks. But the increasing level of long-term loans almost certainly reflects a tendency for borrowers to lock in low interest rates when the Fed supressed them. 

  We can only assume that many banks will have hedged some or all of their illiquid exposure through interest rate swaps, passing the problems of increasing interest rates to other banks, insurance corporations and pension funds. To the extent that interest rate swap counterparties are other banks, exposure to rising interest rates and the consequences for long-term loan obligations remain within the banking system. For the whole banking cohort, hedged or unhedged, rising interest rates make these loans not only progressively unprofitable, but lending officers will begin to concern themselves about whether they can be rolled over on maturity at higher interest rates.

  The US banking system is less leveraged than their opposites in the EU and Japan, at least so far as the global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) are concerned. The G-SIBs in those jurisdictions have asset to equity ratios commonly twenty times or more. And already, Credit Suisse, which was not so highly leveraged as its European neighbours, has had to be rescued. In short, higher interest rates leading to falling asset values and increasing non-performing loans together represent an existential threat to the survival of the global banking network.

  Central banks are also in a parlous state

  One of the primary functions of a modern central bank is to ensure the integrity of the commercial banks in its jurisdiction. We can see that further increases in interest rates are sure to threaten this integrity, raising the issue as to whether central banks are in a position to manage a global banking crisis.

  At the outset, it should be stated that the reflex action of G20 leaders and their finance ministers to the Lehman failure was to ensure that in future failing banks would not be bailed out at taxpayers’expense. The concept behind so-called bail-ins was that bondholders and large depositors should be required to sacrifice their bonds and deposits for equity capital to recapitalise a bank as the initial method of rescue. Accordingly, all G20 member nations agreed to pass enabling legislation to permit bail-ins to replace the previous approach of bailing out a failing bank.

  The net stable funding ratio calculation in Basel 3 regulations introduced at the G20’s behest reflects the greater risk from bail-ins with respect to large deposits, which in a banking crisis would rapidly leave the weaker banks, precipitating their failure. Under the NSFR calculation, large deposits are penalised as available stable funding, a move designed to reduce exposure to them. This is the likely reason US banks are turning down large deposits, which are now being accommodated by the Fed with its reverse repo facility.

  There can be little doubt that the introduction of bail-in legislation in all major banking jurisdictions will make it more difficult for central banks to coordinate their actions in a global banking crisis. When there was one set of bail out procedures following the Lehman failure in the US, it was bad enough. Ireland’s entire economy had to be bailed by the EU, and Germany’s major banks had to be rescued. It is not even clear whether central banks will be in a position to agree to discard bail-in regulations in the interest of a coordinated practical approach to an international banking crisis.

  Additionally, there is the issue of their own financial position. Since the Lehman failure, central banks have expanded their balance sheets as a counterpart of cash injections into bond markets in the form of QE. What the increase in interest rates has exposed is that central banks have paid the highest prices for their government paper, which has subsequently fallen in value. With the exception of the Bank of England, whose losses are underwritten by the UK Treasury, on a mark-to-market basis all major central banks are in a position of deeply negative equity. 

  In the case of the Bank of England and the Fed, it should be a simple if embarrassing matter of recapitalisation by recording a loan to their national governments as an asset and balancing it with an equity liability. In a crisis, that may be difficult enough for a sceptical public to accept, but the situation with the Bank of Japan and the ECB along with their national central banking network in the euro system is considerably more difficult.

  The BoJ has pioneered QE since the year 2000, that is 23 years. The inflationary consequences at the consumer level have been subdued, partly through government subsidies estimated to suppress prices of up to 40% of Japan’s CPI, but mainly because of the Japanese habit of saving. When credit is saved and not spent, the inflation of credit is not fully reflected in consumer prices.

  Until September 2019, when values on the BoJ’s then portfolio were at their highest, the BoJ had notional profits. But since then, yields have risen, and since January 2022, losses on the portfolio of JGBs alone total Y453 billion to date, 4,530 times the BoJ’s equity capital of Y100 million. At the moment, the BoJ is trying desperately to contain the situation by accelerating its bond purchases. Despite last month’s CPI inflation rate at 4.2%, yields on JGBs are still pinned at negative rates up to 2-year maturities, the 10-year JGB bond yield is 0.51%, and the 20-year is 1.2%. It amounts to a very heavily rigged market to save the BoJ’s skin.

  The Eurosystem, comprising the ECB and the national central banks in the Eurozone, is also in negative equity, a condition shared by nearly all of the central banks involved. And to see the 10-year French, German, and Spanish bond yields breaking into new high ground (see Figure 3 above) signals that a new Eurozone banking crisis is unfolding.

  Recapitalising the ECB will be extremely difficult, requiring legislation in most, if not all the national parliaments in the Eurozone. Not only will politicians be asked to recapitalise their own national central banks, but as shareholders in the ECB additional resources will need to be made available for its recapitalisation as well. 

  Given that Germany’s politicians will almost certainly want an adequate explanation for €1.16 billion euros owed to the Bundesbank through the TARGET2 settlement system recorded as an asset on its balance sheet of questionable value, the recapitalisation of the Bundesbank and the ECB is likely to be a prolonged and difficult process. And when there is a banking crisis, time is of the essence.

  Summary and conclusion

  In this article, it has been demonstrated why the errors in monetary policy shared by all the central banks responsible for the major western currencies and their banking systems have led to the point where the global credit system of central bank currency and commercial bank credit is on the verge of collapse. The timing will be set by interest rates rising again, which in the Eurozone and Japan are already leading the way. Interest rates are the silent killer.

  Central banks are in this mess too deep to somehow unearth a conventional solution. They are meant to be the ultimate backstop for their banking systems in a crisis. Yet the Fed, the ECB, and the BoJ are themselves in a solvency crisis of their own making. An acute embarrassment for the Fed perhaps, but far more serious for the other two. And in the case of the ECB, we can rule out a rapid recapitalisation because of the structure of the euro system and unexplained TARGET2 imbalances.

  Lulled into a false sense of security, these central banks misread the consequences of their own credit expansion, not realising the damage they were doing to the purchasing power of their currencies and ultimately themselves. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, producer and consumer prices were beginning to rise, dismissed as a transient trend. We were told that inflation would return to the two per cent target and now we were told it will take just a little longer.

  Monetary policy has the worst possible mistake for the authorities to make, and with negative interest rates still enforced by the BoJ, Japan is still catastrophically in denial. And official forecasts by bodies such as the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, and the US’s Congressional Budget Office still persist in telling us that inflation will return to the 2% target, when the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. Market participants who are perennially bullish want to believe in these forecasts. But bond yields are rising again, particularly in Japan and the Eurozone which started from a negative interest rate baseline.

  The truth of the matter is that interest rates and bond yields never rose to levels sufficient to keep foreign funds invested in bank deposits and financial assets. The combination of time preference, lending risk, and loss of purchasing power suggests that one-year dollar deposits should offer something over 6% at least, given a current CPI inflation rate of 6.2%. The gap between reality and current interest rates and bond yields is even more alarming in the Eurozone and Japan. And why UK gilts should yield less than equivalent US Treasuries is beyond vindication.

  Bond markets are broken. Doubtless, central bankers are in denial because they do not want to face up to crashing bond and stock markets, for them vital for the preservation of economic confidence. Nor can they face up to the bankruptcies of overindebted businesses and zombie corporations unable to afford higher interest rates. It is the ultimate consequence of government officials with no skin in the game attempting to manage economic outcomes by manipulating credit and interest rates.

  Having emerged from a prolonged period of declining interest rates, western capital markets still face a major readjustment, a process which has only started. And when it comes to commodity prices, for central bankers and bulls of financial assets there is likely to be a double disappointment. The easy one to understand is that the massive Chinese economy is emerging from lockdown with plans to increase capital investment across all Asia, which is why President Xi has been careful to secure long-term energy supplies. The second disappointment arises from a woeful lack of understanding about the relationship between production and consumption in a recession.

  Recently, speculation has been about when the Fed will pivot from being an inflation hawk into preventing a recession, as if it is an either one or the other choice. Say’s law, which disproved the possibility of a general glut and was wrongly traduced by Keynes in 1936 is clear on the matter. Inflationists expecting a general glut will be disappointed. 

  As the crisis hits, foreigners will almost certainly seek to unwind their foreign currency and investment exposure. The most owned foreign currency is the dollar, with foreigners owning a total of $30 trillion in bonds, other financial assets, and bank deposits. The unwinding of these positions is bound to lead to a dollar crisis as well as a wider banking crisis, all set to be triggered by further increases in interest rates and bond yields.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 18:20

• Blinken Unveils $400 Million More In Arms With Ukraine Against The Ropes In Bakhmut
  Blinken Unveils $400 Million More In Arms With Ukraine Against The Ropes In Bakhmut

  As we reported earlier Ukrainian forces are nearly completely encircled in the key eastern city of Bakhmut, a dire situation which President Zelensky himself has increasingly acknowledged in a series of statements this week. Front line commanders have also said that Russian artillery has been relentless and “around the clock” in its sustainment. 

  As expected, Ukraine’s leadership has pleaded for more urgent weapons and ammo from its Western backers. On Friday Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of ammunition and other defense support, likely timed to give a mere symbolic answer to Ukrainians’ desperate appeals for more help from Bakhmut. 

  It’s valued at $400 million, and as international reports describe, “The package will be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval during an emergency,” according to Blinken’s description of the aid.

  

  The package will include rockets for HIMARS systems, more Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and other armored support, as well as howitzers.

  Blinken said in a statement: “This military assistance package includes more ammunition for US-provided HIMARS and howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself, as well as ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training, and support.”

  The NY Times too is currently acknowledging this is a largely symbolic response to Ukraine forces being up against the ropes in the single biggest battle in Donbas region right now. “NATO leaders have long warned of a looming artillery shortage for Ukraine as its troops burn through thousands of shells each day in trying to push back Russian forces,” the Times writes.

  “That has been particularly clear in the monthslong battle for the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian troops are fighting to avoid encirclement by Russian forces,” it adds.

  Revealingly, the report also includes the observation: “It was not clear if the new tranche of American ammunition would arrive in time to defend Bakhmut, if that is where commanders decide it should be sent.” Even as Ukraine is losing in Bakhmut, the administration is showing itself willing to pull from the Pentagon’s own already strained weapons stockpiles.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 18:00

• Is This The Greatest Job Of Political Trolling Ever?
  Is This The Greatest Job Of Political Trolling Ever?

  Authored by Chris Queen via PJMedia.com,

  Modern politics is annoying and frustrating, but one of the most entertaining things about it is when conservatives troll left-wingers. So much of it takes place on social media, but sometimes the trolling actually takes place in legislatures.

  The latest instance of conservative political trolling has taken place in Florida, and it’s so brilliant it might be the greatest political trolling job ever.

  On Tuesday, State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-11th district) filed SB 1248, gloriously titled “The Ultimate Cancel Act,” which, in its ultra-sanitized summary, would call on the state of Florida to “immediately cancel the filings of a political party if certain conditions exist; requiring the division to follow a certain procedure; requiring the division to provide a specified notice to certain voters; authorizing a canceled political party to reregister with the Department of State; providing procedures for an organization to reregister as a political party.”

  

  Sounds fair enough, right? But that’s before the fun begins. Later on, in the bill’s text, we learn that SB 1248 would ask the state to “immediately cancel the filings of a political party, to include its registration and approved status as a political party, if the party’s platform has previously advocated for, or been in support of, slavery or involuntary servitude.”

  You know what that means, right?

  As Orlando’s WESH so helpfully explains, “Southern Democrats advocated for slavery during the Civil War.” I would add that plenty of Northern Democrats also thought slavery was just dreamy back in the day, too.

  Naturally, it would be a stretch to believe that the Ultimate Cancel Act would have a snowball’s chance in Florida of passing. But Ingoglia intends to make a point with the legislation.

  “For years now, leftist activists have been trying to ‘cancel’ people and companies for things they have said or done in the past,” he said in a statement.

  “This includes the removal of statues and memorials and the renaming of buildings. Using this standard, it would be hypocritical not to cancel the Democrat Party itself for the same reason.”

  Democrats are up in arms about this one.

  “Republicans in Florida are so drunk with power that they are expanding their censorship agenda to even include abolishing the Democratic Party of Florida,” said Carlos Guillermo Smith, a former Democratic state representative.

  “If Floridians are not alarmed by what is coming out of Republican leadership in Tallahassee, then they are not paying enough attention.”

  “Presenting a bill that would disenfranchise 5 million voters is both unconstitutional and unserious,” the Florida Democratic Party said in a statement.

  “Under Ron DeSantis, Senator Ingoglia is using his office to push bills that are nothing more than publicity stunts instead of focusing on the issues that matter most to Floridians, such as reforming property insurance, addressing housing affordability, and combating climate change.”

  “The sooner DeSantis and his puppets in the legislature learn that Florida is a Democratic Republic and not a Banana Republic, the better it will be for all Floridians,” the statement concluded.

  Republicans want to cancel every culture except conspiracy rage fascism.

  — Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) March 1, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Tyrants dictate one-party states.

  The list of dictators who did it is long and very ugly.

  Ask anyone who fled Cuba, Russia or Germany.

  Now the @FloridaGOP wants to add Florida to that list?

  These radical extremists can’t be serious.https://t.co/L4enZBAO0d

  — Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) February 28, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Check out Schultz’s last statement. “These radical extremists can’t be serious,” she tweeted. Beyond the fact that a member of a political party that pushes for babies to be killed to the point of birth is calling anyone “extremist,” Schultz is clearly lacking a sense of humor.

  Ingoglia has telegraphed that his legislation isn’t exactly a serious proposal.

  After all, his Twitter bio includes, “If you’re looking for snark, you’ve found it.”

  (By the way, there’s no “sensitive content” in the image in the tweet below.)

  Fact check: TRUE. https://t.co/jFDAfyAW3W

  — Blaise Ingoglia (@GovGoneWild) March 1, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  While the prospect of Ingoglia’s bill is appealing, nobody really thinks this is a real proposal. But it does reveal two things: the Democrats don’t have a sense of humor, and they’re so lacking in self-awareness that they don’t realize that the real target of this bill, which approaches Swiftian levels of sly satire, is cancel culture in general.

  *  *  *

  If you enjoy PJ Media’s conservative reporting, consider supporting their work so that they can continue to bring you the truth. Become a PJ Media VIP member today and use the promo code SAVEAMERICA to get 40% off VIP membership!

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 17:40

• US Beef Herd Drops To Lowest Since 1962 As Global Food Crisis Intensifies
  US Beef Herd Drops To Lowest Since 1962 As Global Food Crisis Intensifies

  Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

  Americans need to be prepared to eat a lot less beef, because the size of the national cattle herd is steadily shrinking.  And of course this is happening in the context of a much larger crisis.  As I detailed in a previous article, even CNN is admitting that we are currently in the midst of “the worst food crisis in modern history”.  But even though children are literally dropping dead from starvation on the other side of the planet, a lot of people here in the United States refuse to take this crisis seriously.  As long as their stomachs are full they think that everything is just fine.  But the truth is that conditions are also starting to get tight here in the United States.

  

  According to the latest biannual report from the USDA, the number of beef cows in this country has fallen to the lowest level since 1962…

  The USDA’s biannual cattle report showed that, as of Jan. 1, 2023, there is a 89.3 million head inventory — which is three percent lower than the total from a year ago and the lowest since 2015. Of that number, 38.3 million cows and heifers have calved.

  Additionally, there are 28.9 million beef cows, which are those explicitly bred for slaughter and meat sales, as of the start of this year — which is down nearly four percent from last year and the lowest the agency has recorded since 1962.

  In 1962, 184 million people lived in the United States.

  Today, that number has risen to 331 million.

  So we have a problem.

  But even though beef prices have been soaring, most Americans don’t realize the gravity of this shortage yet because we are still eating cattle that were slaughtered some time ago.

  And according to livestock economist Kenny Burdine, “cattle production’s downward trend does not seem like it will reverse in 2023”…

  University of Kentucky’s Kenny Burdine and James Mitchell, extension livestock economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, recently explained that “There was no question that the beef cow herd had gotten smaller” and that the cattle production’s downward trend does not seem like it will reverse in 2023.”

  “There is a pretty substantial biological lag in the beef supply chain,” Mitchell noted. “What consumers experience at the grocery store is a product of what cattle producers were going through a year or two ago. It takes about two years for a new calf to become the steak on your dinner plate.”

  The corporate media is already calling beef “a luxury meat”, and prices are inevitably going to go a lot higher in the months ahead.

  So if you love beef, you should stock up now.

  Meanwhile, food shortages continue to intensify all over the globe.

  In Yemen, literally millions of children “suffer from acute malnutrition” at this point…

  The Global Hunger Index currently ranks Yemen the worst in the world for level of hunger. Millions of Yemeni children, in some areas as many as 95% according to doctors in those areas that I spoke to, suffer from acute malnutrition.

  The resulting stunted physical development had me convinced that I was in a kindergarten classroom when in fact I was meeting with eight and nine-year-olds. And those children were, as a colleague unnervingly put it, “the lucky ones.”

  In North Korea, ordinary citizens are “reportedly dropping dead on the streets every day” due to the severe famine that is taking place in that nation…

  THIS is the moment Kim Jong-un and his cronies gorged on popcorn and champagne as North Korea faces the worst famine in three decades.

  Stockpiles of food are dwindling fast in the secretive state, and dozens of malnourished North Koreans are reportedly dropping dead on the streets every day.

  In Somalia, the “longest and most severe” drought in that country’s history has produced unprecedented suffering…

  About 1.3 million people, 80 percent women and children, have been internally displaced in Somalia by the drought sweeping the Horn of Africa. After five consecutive poor rainy seasons, the ongoing drought has already become the longest and most severe in Somalia’s recent history.

  Close to 23 million people are thought to be highly food insecure in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to a food security working group chaired by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

  Sadly, most of us in the western world don’t care about poor people on the other side of the globe.

  So let me give you an example from the western world.

  In the UK, the largest supermarkets are now strictly rationing many fruits and vegetables…

  The UK’s largest supermarket, Tesco, and discounter Aldi have said they are putting limits of three per customer on sales of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

  Asda has capped sales of lettuces, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflowers and raspberry punnets to three per customer, along with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

  And Morrisons has set limits of two on cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuces and peppers.

  And it is being reported that approximately 22 percent of all British households “skipped meals or even fasted for a whole day in January”…

  A British NGO has warned that as many as four million children are now in food poverty amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

  The survey on behalf of the Food Foundation, an NGO which promotes healthy eating, found that 22 percent households said they had skipped meals or even fasted for a whole day in January this year, an increase on the 12 percent reporting the same at the start of last year.

  This is really happening.

  But it can be really easy for those that still have plenty of food to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.

  Sadly, this is just the beginning.

  As I prove in my new book, global food production will drop precipitously in the years ahead no matter what our leaders do now.

  We are running out of top soil, fertilizer supplies will become insanely tight in the years ahead, and trillions of extremely small particles of plastic are literally raining out of the sky on farms all over the planet.

  Many of our leaders understand what is going to happen, but they don’t want to alarm the general public.

  Those that are wise will see what is happening and will get prepared.

  Unfortunately, most of the population continues to assume that everything will magically work out just fine somehow, and so they will not be ready for the horrors that are ahead of us.

  *  *  *

  It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 03/03/2023 – 17:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• The American People Must Draw Red Lines Now
  The American People Must Draw Red Lines Now

  Authored by Connor Freeman via The Libertarian Institute, 

  Washington and NATO have rapidly escalated their war with Russia. The White House appears to have blown up the Nord Stream pipelines in a blatant act of war against Russia, not to mention Germany and other European allies.The CIA is reportedly conducting sabotage attacks on Russian infrastructure and the Pentagon has tacitly endorsed Kiev’s drone strikes hundreds of miles deep inside the Russian mainland.

  Along with an assortment of NATO commandos, U.S. troops, CIA, and Special Operations forces are on the ground in Ukraine as well. The White House has greenlit the transfer of Bradley armored fighting vehicles, longer range rockets, and M1 Abrams battle tanks to the battlefield.

  

  Kiev is demanding hundreds of tanks. Concurrently, multiple European NATO members are sending their own main battle tanks to Ukraine, and a U.S. backed assault on Crimea is expected soon. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky goads London, Berlin, and Paris into handing over fighter jets, his country has already suffered more than 100,000 casualties, hundreds of Ukrainian troops are dying every day just over a battle for the eastern Donetsk city of Bakhmut.

  In recent months, officials in Kiev have explicitly stated that Ukraine—a “de facto” NATO member—is “shedding blood” for a “NATO mission.” The goal is eliminating Moscow as a “threat” to the alliance by weakening, destabilizing, and disintegrating Russia.

  In the process, Ukraine, the human battering ram, is being destroyed. But in the words of Madeline Albright, from the Empire’s perspective, “the price is worth it.”

  Russia must be crippled before the Pentagon launches its impending war against China, “the big one,” which top military commanders and four star generals now warn will take place in only a few years.

  In the meantime, experts and analysts continue to point out—along with even The New York Times—that we are systematically pushing “the United States and its NATO allies closer to direct conflict with Russia.”

  What is the justification for this seemingly perpetual escalation? The U.S. war machine reasons that since Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet ordered strikes on NATO territory or pushed the nuclear button, Washington and its NATO vassals can freely provide Kiev with increasingly advanced weapons and even support assaults against the Crimean Peninsula as well as the Russian homeland itself.

  The aforementioned tanks will likely be used for the potential attacks on Crimea (read: Russian territory) currently being considered by the White House. Such an escalation could swiftly lead to World War III and a nuclear exchange.

  Incidentally, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists warns nuclear war is now a more likely possibility than at any time during the Cold War. In making their case for turning the clock to 90 seconds to midnight—for the first time—the group partly refers to the refusal of the United States, Ukraine, and its allies to come to the negotiating table.

  BAS president and CEO Rachel Bronson said in a statement following the decision that the “U.S. government, its NATO allies and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue; we urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest ability to turn back the clock.”

  Last fall, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley was advocating a negotiated settlement between Kiev and Moscow. However, he was all but vetoed by the so-called diplomats in Antony Blinken’s State Department.

  Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently discussed how he attempted to mediate a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine in early March 2022. According to Bennett, both sides made major concessions and “there was a good chance of reaching a ceasefire.”  He has now revealed the effort was overruled and ultimately “blocked” by President Joe Biden and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

  According to current and former U.S. officials, that same month, Turkish brokered talks in Istanbul between the warring sides also established a workable foundation for a future settlement. The whole enterprise was squashed again by Johnson, acting on behalf of the “collective West.”

  Even when U.S. military leadership expresses uneasiness about the war’s trajectory, the provision of heavy western-made tanks, or the sheer inability of Ukrainian forces to regain all the territory Russia has captured, the escalations continue anyway. The hawkish Secretary General of NATO himself has said “I fear that the war in Ukraine will get out of control, and spread into a major war between NATO and Russia.”

  Likewise, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned “I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.” The American people must draw red lines now and stop their out of control ruling class waging wars against nuclear armed powers. As Roger Waters says, this is not a drill.

  Our fellow countrymen have become dangerously desensitized to the thought of direct conflict with both Russia and China.

  Tragically, our people have been numb for a long time. They have yet to truly reckon with our government’s mass murder marathon of the last 20 years including one million dead Iraqis, half a million dead Syrians, as well as the hundreds of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen.

  Designedly, our enemies in Washington need us to be numb to the inevitable results of their reckless, murderous policies. The hawks will next try the same proxy war strategy in Taiwan, we will not get another chance to draw red lines.

  We must demand all military aid be terminated, and that the White House and the State Department be forced to support or at least not interfere with negotiations.

  We must demand an immediate end to this war now.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 23:40

• PA Man Hid Explosive Device In Bag Checked On FL Flight: FBI
  PA Man Hid Explosive Device In Bag Checked On FL Flight: FBI

  A Pennsylvania man has been arrested after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspectors found a live explosive device hidden in a bag he checked for a flight from Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley International Airport to Orlando Sanford International on Monday.  

  Marc Muffley, a 40-year-old resident of Lansford, Pennsylvania, has been charged with possessing an explosive in an airport and possessing or attempting to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft.  

  

  In a criminal complaint, the FBI says Muffley’s bag was flagged by an alarm after he checked it at the Allegiant Air counter. Officials examined the bag and found a “circular compound, approximately three inches in diameter, wrapped in wax-like paper and clear plastic wrap hidden in the lining of the baggage.”

  When an FBI bomb technician X-rayed the compound, he concluded it contained a “granular type of powder consistent with a commercial grade firework. This granular powder is suspected to be a mixture of flash powder and the dark granulars that are used in commercial grade fireworks.”

  

  Two fuses were attached to the compound: a “quick fuse” that appeared to “part of the original manufacture,” and a slower-burning “hobby fuse” that appeared to be added later. The agent submitting the criminal complaint said the powders “are susceptible to ignite from heat and friction and posed a significant risk to the aircraft and passengers.” 

  The FBI says Muffley’s bag also contained a can of butane, a lighter, a pipe with white powder residue, a wireless drill with cordless batteries, and two GFCI outlets taped together with black tape. Upon discovery, the “immediate area” of the airport was evacuated, the TSA said. 

  According to the complaint, airport security cameras captured Muffley being dropped off at the airport on Monday morning. While the name of the car’s owner was redacted, that person’s driver’s license has the same address as Muffley, about 40 miles northwest of the Lehigh Valley airport in Allentown. 

  

  When TSA officials found the explosive compound, they paged Muffley over the airport public address system, directing him to report to the security desk. Five minutes later, cameras captured him leaving the airport.

  Muffley was arrested at his home about 12 hours later, at 11:30 Monday night. On Thursday, he admitted to packing the materials, but his lawyer suggested he intended to shoot fireworks on a Florida beach, near where his ill grandfather lives. 

  “No one has posited one conceivable theory on how this thing could have gone off. That was not going to happen inside of a bag,” said his attorney, Jonathan McDonald. The judge ordered him held without bail. 

  

  The Daily Mail, linking to Muffley’s rap sheet, reports that he has faced a variety of charges dating to 2017, including drug charges, harassment, “disorderly conduct engage in fighting,” and driving an unregistered vehicle. Citing the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, CNN reports that he was also arrested for stealing $22 worth of batteries from a Family Dollar store. 

  Discussing the criminal history with CNN, former Lansford police chief Jack Soberick said his many encounters with Muffley were minor in nature: “There’s nothing that would light up and say, ‘Hey, this guy’s gonna try to bomb an aircraft’. I don’t think he’s radicalized or anything like that.”

  This explosive compound was initially discovered by a machine. In 2015, an internal TSA investigation found that manned checkpoints had a 95% failure rate in discovering mock explosives and weapons being smuggled by undercover agents testing the system. 

  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 23:20

• Gaslighting: "Conspiracy Theories" Already Proven True In 2023
  Gaslighting: “Conspiracy Theories” Already Proven True In 2023

  Authored by Marie Hawthorne via The Organic Prepper blog,

  Preppers get called conspiracy theorists a lot.  It’s supposed to be demeaning, but considering how many conspiracy theories have been proven correct lately, I no longer consider it an insult.  The more time goes by, the more “conspiracy theorists” just seem ahead of the game.

  Quite a few “conspiracy theories” have recently come to light as actual facts in 2023 already. And it’s only the beginning of March.

  

  Let’s look at a recent batch of “conspiracy theories” that aren’t really theories any more.  

  Gas stoves in peril?

  In January, the OP ran a story about the potential ban on gas stoves.  Naturally, the mainstream media poo-poohed the idea that the government would do something like that.  The New York Times insisted that “No, Biden is Not Trying to Ban Gas Stoves.”   CNN likewise claimed Biden didn’t want to ban the stoves  NPR dismissed the thought of banning gas stoves as a right-wing, culture war stunt.

  Well, maybe they’re not going to outright ban gas stoves. . . but the Department of Energy is proposing new efficiency standards that will make approximately half the gas stoves on the market no longer available. So, technically this isn’t a ban, but regulating gas stoves out of existence has the exact same effect.   

  This is particularly problematic for anyone with fairly new models.  Newer appliances are made to break down within about ten years.  Anyone who’s been a homeowner for more than a decade knows this.  If appliances are made to only last ten years or so, the government doesn’t need to conduct some dramatic midnight raid to steal your stove.  All they have to do is wait.  Within ten years, most people will have to replace their stoves anyway, and at that point, very few, if any, gas stoves will still be on the market.  

  Nope, it’s not just a theory.  They really do want to get rid of gas stoves.

  Covid origins?

  And in other Department of Energy news, the agency recently came to the conclusion that Covid probably did come from a lab.  The findings were part of a classified report, which the government agency shared with the Wall Street Journal last weekend.

  Back in 2021, the FBI had been the only federal agency to state with “moderate confidence” that Covid came from a lab.  At the time, their finding mostly went ignored.  However, with another agency admitting it, and WSJ covering the story, it becomes more difficult to brush aside.

  And at least we’re allowed to openly discuss the lab leak now.  Two years ago, we weren’t.  In February 2021, Facebook banned any discussion of the possible laboratory origins of Covid.  The lab leak theory was just too crazy to even consider. Zero Hedge was banished from Twitter for daring to suggest the makeup of the virus was peculiar in 2020. The Organic Prepper was called a disinformation site and defunded due, in part, to our coverage of the virus.

  But now, House Republicans are launching an investigation into the origins of Covid.   And once the Wall Street Journal publishes something, even the stodgiest Boomers can’t ignore it.  

  The Covid lab leak theory is slowly but surely looking less like a theory, and more like an established fact.

  The Covid vaccine?

  This is hardly the only situation in which Covid dissidents have been proven correct.  There has been a small contingent of people from the beginning who were reluctant to participate in the trial of a novel medical product.  Considering the many criminal payouts Big Pharma has had to make over the years, wanting long-term studies before trying a novel pharmaceutical product shouldn’t be controversial.    

  The cost (injecting a poorly-tested novel substance) did not match up with the benefit (avoiding a not-particularly dangerous disease that many of us had a natural immunity to anyway).  Plenty of well-informed people had perfectly rational reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

  Were our concerns taken seriously?  No.  The Othering was vicious and relentless.  Daisy wrote an article about it here.  Family relationships were stressed and sometimes broken. Careers were ended. Opportunities were denied. Reputations were ruined.  

  And meanwhile, the “safe and effective” drumbeat resounded.  Anyone who wanted real answers about what was happening, who wanted to wait for long-term studies, was dismissed as a conspiracy theorist.

  So, who was right?  Were the shots safe and effective?  Or were the conspiracy theorists the reasonable ones?

  I’m not a doctor or statistician.  All I can do is point at actual numbers.  And even the most pro-vax publications cannot hide the non-Covid excess mortality of the past two years. Young, formerly healthy people have been dying at far higher rates than they used to, and it’s not from Covid.  As of right now, no one can prove that jabs are responsible, because no one wants to look that closely.  But we can’t prove they’re not responsible, either.  Safe?  I’m not convinced, and neither are a lot of vastly more qualified people.  Just look at Ed Dowd’s meticulously researched book, Cause Uknown.

  And even Tony “The Science” Fauci recently admitted that the shots don’t really work at preventing transmission or infection.  So, nope, these jabs aren’t effective either.  

  Meanwhile, Congress is finally launching an investigation into the safety of the forced vaccine.

  Were the conspiracy theorists right to be cautious about the new shots?  Yeah, I think so.  

  Mandatory masking?

  And what about the masks?  We got mixed signals about masks from the beginning.  In March 2020, Dr. Fauci said they didn’t work, then he later changed his tune.  Many people around the country had to deal with mask mandates for over a year.

  Well, the experts at the Cochrane Library recently published a huge meta-analysis of the effectiveness of physical barriers (like masks) at preventing respiratory viruses (like Covid).  They can’t find any strong links between masking and disease prevention.  Cochrane studies are the gold standard.  They’re very conservative, they rarely make hard and fast statements, but once they do, people typically stop arguing.  

  The mask debate is one that really smacks us at the OP because, back in 2021, NewsGuard cited our questioning of the mask narrative as a reason to downgrade us, which really hurt our income stream.  Daisy goes into the whole story here. She cited studies with a variety of outcomes regarding masks, and NewsGuard saw the variety of viewpoints as reason enough to downgrade us.

  The journalism majors working at NewsGuard don’t seem to understand that letting multiple educated people argue is more true to the scientific ideal than top-down authoritarian mandates.  

  I’m not the only person saying this.  Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford professor and MD, said as much in a recent interview with Jordan Peterson. At 5:26, he talks about public perception during the pandemic:

  There was this sort of uni-vocal conclusion that you had to do lockdowns, you had to wear masks, you had to socially distance, you had to put plastic barriers up, you had to close schools, you had to do all of these things; that the vaccines would stop transmission of the disease, that therefore it was warranted that people would lose their jobs over them.  All of these ideas were sold as if there was a scientific consensus in favor of them.  That was a lie.  There was never a scientific consensus on almost any of the topics; and as you say on masks, in fact, the preexisting narrative, the preexisting idea of most scientists before the pandemic, was in quite the opposite direction.

  Dr. Bhattacharya’s not the only highly qualified doctor speaking out, either.  In fact, so many of the various Covid narratives have been proven wrong, that Dr. Marty Makary, chief of Islet Transplant Surgery at Johns Hopkins medical school, recently published an article February 27 titled “10 myths told by covid experts—and now debunked.”  

  “Masks prevent transmission” is #2 on the list.  I guess if NewsGuard still thinks Daisy is a conspiracy theorist over this one, she’s got some pretty kick-ass company.

  But in all seriousness, thank God (or whoever you pray to) for doctors like Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Makary for not treating the public like we’re mentally impaired rodents.  There are still a few true medical experts out there who genuinely want to educate the public, and give us real answers.  

  The air and water in East Palestine?

  In the meantime, I wonder if the EPA will find any real experts. That agency keeps insisting that the air and water in East Palestine are perfectly safe, despite the derailment and subsequent disaster going on a few weeks ago.  

  The EPA says they’ve been testing for everything and that the numbers indicate everything looks good; professional chemists aren’t so sure.  “They should be testing for individual compounds, and if they are testing for total VOCs [volatile organic compounds] as a screen, they need to have very sensitive instruments because some VOCs are much more toxic than others,” says Ted Schettler, MD, and science director at the nonprofit Science and Environmental Health network.  The fact that East Palestine residents are still smelling off odors suggests that the EPA is not using sensitive enough equipment.

  And the EPA hasn’t started testing for the myriad other substances that formed when the known chemicals in the train were burned.  When you mix chemicals together and burn them, new chemicals form, and this hasn’t even been talked about much yet.  

  It’s probably going to be a long time before we have a good picture of the damage caused by this derailment.  But, what do we know?

  We know that the people of East Palestine are still suffering from bizarre symptoms.  Rashes, shortness of breath, and a burning sensation while breathing are common.  Some people have had voice changes, loss of taste and smell, and random infections. Because East Palestine is such a low-income area, doctors can’t do the tests they need to, though they all agree that the citizens are in real pain.  

  And yet EPA Administrator Michael Regan states, “Nothing is coming back that shows adverse health impacts.”  

  Government officials are not helping themselves by insisting there’s “nothing to see here!”  Distrusting the federal government has traditionally been in the realm of conspiracy theorists, but once again, which group of people seems more reasonable?  

  The Twitter files?

  I’ve spent a lot of time wondering if I’m too cynical, too eager to see ill intent.

  Then came the Twitter Files. 

  We’ve written about them before on this site. When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he handed over internal documents to independent journalists Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and Lee Feng to peruse.  

  Many figures in alternative media had suspected they were being shadow-banned, or having a hard time reaching followers.  The Twitter Files confirmed everyone’s worst suspicions: the federal government does spend millions of dollars policing online content, and much of it targets law-abiding citizens with inconvenient opinions, rather than real criminals.  Many of the people that had their accounts locked or frozen weren’t even big media presences, just people with a few dozen followers with an annoying sense of humor, or who got snarky about the wrong things.   

  Five years ago, anyone convinced the Feds were watching their every online move would have been labeled a crazy conspiracy theorist.  

  Well, yet again, the conspiracy theorists have been proven correct.  

  The gaslighting continues.

  If you’ve ever been in an abusive relationship, you probably know what it’s like to have someone trying to convince you you’re crazy.  The only way to survive gaslighting like that is to constantly remind yourself of things you know are true.  That’s why it’s so important to keep track of whatever narratives we’re supposed to swallow and constantly check them against our preexisting knowledge base.  It’s important to hold purveyors of false narratives to account; it’s important to point to tangible facts and to be able to discuss them.

  These are only the most recent examples of conspiracy theorists being proven correct.  Daisy had an article about “7 Things That Used to Be ‘Crazy Conspiracy Theories’ Until 2020 Happened.”  The tin foil hat wearers have been getting vindicated a lot in the past few years.  

  I think we’re going to keep seeing more of this for a while.  Universal Basic Income, digital currencies, AI tech, there are so many new things happening right now. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 23:00

• California's Years-Long Drought Eases As Mother Nature Fills Reservoirs
  California’s Years-Long Drought Eases As Mother Nature Fills Reservoirs

  A map released on Thursday by US Drought Monitor shows that the convey belt of severe rain and winter storms for the last two months has significantly eased California’s extreme drought.

  The Sierra Nevada region in north-central California, the coastline stretching from Monterey Bay to northwest Los Angeles County, and parts of northwest California, including Humboldt and Del Norte counties, are no longer classified as being in a state of drought.

  The middle of the state is now labeled as “abnormally dry,” while northeast California and the high desert of southeastern California remain in “severe drought” and “moderate drought” classifications — but easing from extreme levels several months ago. 

  

  On Jan. 12, the drought map showed that conditions in various regions had started to improve after a series of storms in the first two weeks of the month.

  

  Here’s what the drought map looked like on Jan. 5. 

  

  And on Dec. 9. 

  

  Since the recent snowstorms, snowpack levels across the state have reportedly reached a 40-year high. 

  

  There’s so much snow in Southern California that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency. 

  San Bernardino Co. Snow Response:

  – 4 to 5 feet of additional snow overnight
  -500 miles of mountain roads need plowing
  -Over 96 responses to residents
  -No serious injuries/deaths
  -still waiting on additional resources after emergency declaration @FOXLAhttps://t.co/fYy07DbUgj pic.twitter.com/TgvOhZScxa

  — Mario Ramirez (@MarioFOXLA) March 1, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  All the storms have been a boon for California’s reservoirs. The latest figures show 94% of major reservoir levels are at normal for this time of year. This is great news following last summer when reservoir levels were dangerously low. 

  

  Here are stunning before and after photos of Lake Oroville, one of California’s largest reservoirs. 

  

  

  And just like that, Mother Nature heals itself without any assistance from Democrats who tax the heck out of people in the name of ‘saving the planet.’ 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 22:40

• Pentagon Claims Iran Is '12 Days Away' From Nuke Material For A Bomb
  Pentagon Claims Iran Is ’12 Days Away’ From Nuke Material For A Bomb

  Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com,

  Speaking to the US House Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl falsely testified that Iran could make enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb in “about 12 days.”

  Kahl claims that Iran’s enrichment capacity has increased sufficiently over the course of the past five years — since the US abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka the “Iran nuclear deal” — to reduce that timeline from more like a year, and regrets that the JCPOA is “on ice.”

  

  Kahl as the third ranking DOD official said in his testimony, “Because Iran’s nuclear progress since we left the JCPOA has been remarkable. Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to leave the JCPOA it would have taken Iran about 12 months to produce one bomb’s worth of fissile material. Now it would take about 12 days.”

  He continued: “And so I think there is still the view that if you could resolve this issue diplomatically and put constraints back on their nuclear program, it is better than the other options. But right now, the JCPOA is on ice.”

  But other officials concede that Iran is not stockpiling any uranium enriched beyond 60%, well short of weapons grade, and also doubt Iran’s other technical capacities to build nuclear weapons.

  Iran may produce fissile material for a bomb ‘in about 12 days’ – says US senior official @ColinKahl pic.twitter.com/5FyEvSpoEf

  — Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) February 28, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Getting a bomb’s worth of 90% uranium is no small task, even before trying to make it into a deliverable weapon. Iran’s weapons development capabilities would be in doubt even if they were stockpiling uranium, which again they aren’t.

  Pentagon officials still maintain that getting back into a deal with Iran is preferable to not having one.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 22:20

• Fed Governor Speech Canceled After Zoom Conference "Hijacker" Plays Porn
  Fed Governor Speech Canceled After Zoom Conference “Hijacker” Plays Porn

  A virtual event with Fed Governor Christopher Waller was canceled on Thursday after the Zoom videoconference was “hijacked” by a participant who displayed pornographic images that was visible to all viewers.

  Waller had planned to deliver remarks (his prepared hawkish speech is here, a Reuters summary can be found here) on the economic outlook to the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, which was hosting the event, but it was not meant to be.

  “We were a victim of a teleconference or Zoom hijacking and we are trying to understand what we need to do going forward to prevent this from ever happening again. It is an incident we deeply regret,” said Brent Tjarks, executive director of the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America (MBCA), which hosted the event via a Zoom link. “We have had various programs and this is something that we have never had happen to us.”

  Tjarks said that he suspects one of the security switches that mutes those watching an event was set incorrectly, but he was not yet sure of the details.

  A few minutes before the event was to start, one participant using the screen name “Dan” began displaying graphic, pornographic images, according to a Reuters reporter on the call.

  Microphones and video were not muted by the organizer upon joining, and more than 220 participants on the Zoom call at one point before it was terminated,

  The decision to cancel was made in consultation with the Fed after the intrusion. After releasing Waller’s prepared remarks, the Fed said in a statement that “there are technical difficulties with Governor Waller’s virtual event and it has been canceled.”

  The Fed said the event, which was to feature a speech by Waller as well as a question-and-answer session, was canceled due to “technical difficulties.”

  Fed events are typically highly choreographed and security is usually tight.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 22:00

• 'Shocking' Condom Scavenger Hunt Part Of New School Workbook With 'Sexual Assignments'
  ‘Shocking’ Condom Scavenger Hunt Part Of New School Workbook With ‘Sexual Assignments’

  Authored by Alice Giordano via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A condom scavenger hunt is part of a new workbook being used in public schools.

  The workbook, which has been discovered in both middle and high schools, is filled with hundreds of pages of sexual assignments.

  

  Rhode Island English school teacher and parent Ramona Bessinger, who is also a national advocate against woke ideology in schools, told The Epoch Times that parents don’t know about the workbook or its assignments because it falls under the category of what schools call “consumables.”

  “Consumables live on shelves in the classroom. Students do not take them home and once they complete an assignment, their teacher tears the worksheet out of the book, reviews it, grades it, and then throws it away,” explained Bessinger.

  

  She believes consumables are deliberately designed to keep parents in the dark about assignments that would upset them.

  Bessinger, who has appeared on national TV including the Tucker Carlson Show, is currently on suspension from her teaching position with the Providence schools for criticizing CRT teaching and sexually graphic material being used in the classroom.

  The national watchdog group Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit over Bessinger’s suspension.

  Parties are under a gag order in the controversy.

  But says Bessinger, she can still talk as a parent and said even with all the shocking material she has seen, the assignment entitled “condom hunt” she says was especially stomach-turning.

  Directions on the assignment, which is entitled “Condom Hunt,” instruct students to “research the availability of condoms from a local store or other resources.”

  It goes on to tell students to complete the remainder of the worksheet by providing the names of the store they found condoms including giving its address and business hours.

  It also asks students to list “what kinds of condoms” were sold at the stores they visited.

  Unusual Scavenger Hunt

  Then it asks students to answer about the unusual scavenger hunt. “How comfortable would you feel getting condoms here,” one question asks.

  It then provides students with multiple choices to choose from ranging from very comfortable to very uncomfortable.

  The final question on the assignment asks students if they would “recommend that a friend buy condoms here” and explain their answer.

  The last part of the assignment is called “Self-Check” with two options to choose from.

  One of the options states “I provide all the information about obtaining condoms.” The second states “I explained why I would or wouldn’t recommend this resource to a friend.”

  Other assignments out of the workbook include one entitled “Harley and Drew” for which students are asked to answer questions about sexual encounters between two friends when one invites the other over to his house where he is babysitting his little brother.

  Another is a group assignment involving a matching card game of sexual terms including several transgender and homosexual terms and expressions.

  Unhappy Parents

  “Schools are bastardizing childhood innocence with these assignments,” Nicole Solas, a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum told The Epoch Times.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 21:40

• What To Know Ahead Of China's Two Sessions
  What To Know Ahead Of China’s Two Sessions

  The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) – the so-called Two Sessions – will kick off this weekend (starting on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5, respectively). During the one-week long “Two Sessions” event, the Government Work Report delivered by outgoing Premier Li Keqiang and the 2023 fiscal budget proposed by the Ministry of Finance will be discussed and approved by the NPC. Because this year’s Two Sessions coincide with the once-in-a-decade personnel reshuffling at the State Council as well as all the ministries under the State Council, they carry special importance.

  The TL/DR summary of what to expect, comes from Bloomberg’s in-house China expert Tom Orlik who writes that the Congress/Conference will see a further direct concentration of economic and financial power under the CCP:

  While the assumption among many China watchers is that the changes represent a further tilt away from markets that is ultimately bad for growth, recent moves to end Covid Zero restrictions, boost support for the property sector and seek better ties with the US suggest that investors shouldn’t rush to conclusions. The potential positive way of looking at the looming personnel and organizational changes is when Xi has a team around him who he’s familiar with and who he trusts. Perhaps there’s just some more space to get some good things done, to make some pragmatic decisions.

  For those less pressed for time, here is a more detailed summary on what to expect at the Two Sessions, as excerpted from a recent note by Goldman analyst Hui Shan

  Three things to watch: growth target, fiscal budget, and personnel changes

  On the first day of the NPC (Sunday, March 5), the sitting premier Li Keqiang will deliver his last Government Work Report (GWR) which will contain the government’s various economic targets, most important of which is the GDP growth target. Goldman’s baseline expectation is a relatively conservative “around 5%” GDP growth target, although the bank forecasts actual GDP growth to be 5.5% in 2023. Last year’s miss on growth target (3.0% actual growth vs. “around 5.5%” target) may cause policymakers to set a low bar to ensure success this year as evidenced by provincial governments’ conservative targets for 2023. Investors currently expect a growth target in the 5-5.5% range, and a significantly higher target (e.g., 6%) announced over the weekend could be market-moving.

  The GWR will mention some fiscal plans such as official on-budget deficit (GS expects 3.2% vs. 2.8% last year) and local government special bond (LGSB) quota (GS expects RMB 4tn vs. RMB 3.65tn last year). However, the more comprehensive fiscal budget proposal is likely released later during the Two Sessions. The projected tax revenue growth may inform us about the government’s expectation on nominal GDP growth, the planned transfer from central to local governments may hint at policymakers’ concern on local governments’ fiscal conditions and their determination in controlling local government implicit debt, and the government-managed fund revenue (mostly land sales revenue) may give us clues on policymakers’ view on the property sector momentum.

  During the Two Sessions, changes to Party and state organizations and reshuffling of State Council and ministerial personnel, which were planned at the Second Plenum during February 26-28, will be revealed to the public and approved by the NPC. It has been reported in the media that the financial regulatory authority may be moved to a resurrected Central Financial Work Commission (which was first established in 1998 in the aftermath of the Asia Financial Crisis and abolished in 2003) led by Ding Xuexiang, a Politburo Standing Committee member. The current Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State Council and led by Liu He may cease to exist. And He Lifeng, a Politburo member, may replace Guo Shuqing, a Central Committee member, to become the party secretary of the PBOC. If true, these changes indicate an elevated importance of, and more party control over, the financial regulatory system.

  

  Beyond these three key parameters, statements on sector-specific policies can be important to investors as well. For example, characterization of the property market, consumption boosting measures, and internet regulations are worth monitoring. Such discussions may be provided in the GWR, press conferences with ministers in economic and financial areas, and/or in official news reports by Xinhua, People’s Daily and CCTV. Additionally, statements in the GWR regarding Taiwan may also gather market attention

  Where we are in the post-Covid recovery

  To gauge policy stance to be unveiled at or after the Two Sessions, one must first assess where China is in its post-Covid economic recovery. Based on GS tracking of high-frequency data, mobility measures such as the 100-city traffic congestion index have mostly normalized (Exhibit 2). Channel checks and anecdotal evidence suggest that high-end consumer markets have been recovering quickly. In the property market, the 30-city daily property sales data showed notable improvements in recent days (Exhibit 3). Similarly, the NBS 70-city property prices and the Beke’s 50-city existing home prices showed increases in the latest readings. However, it should be noted that high-frequency data in the property sector tend to overweight large top-tier cities where fundamentals are more supportive of a faster recovery. Smaller lower-tier cities, by contrast, continue to struggle due to weak demographic and economic fundamentals as well as dampened price expectations. For many consumption categories, 2022 demand was dramatically below trend and there is still a long way to go for China’s post-Covid recovery, especially for services sectors, mass markets, migrant and young workers.

  

  Four policy expectations

  As mobility, consumption, and property have begun to show clear signs of recovering, the growth acceleration that the market expect this year is broadly on track. As a result, cyclical policy in aggregate should be less stimulative this year than last year. In fact, the PBOC has allowed interbank market rates (e.g., DR007) to increase to the level of policy rates (e.g., 7-day OMO), a sign of policy normalization after very loose liquidity conditions during and after the Shanghai lockdown last year (Exhibit 4).1 Despite higher headline official on-budget deficit and LGSB quota that will likely be released on the first day of the NPC, Goldman expects the augmented fiscal deficit, a more comprehensive gauge of fiscal stance, to narrow by 1.5% of GDP from 2022 to 2023.

  

  But this is not to say that policy will tighten in the same abrupt and significant manner as it did in 2020H2. Precisely because the withdrawal of policy support and the imposition and tightening measures were too much too fast back then, policymakers will be more patient this time around, especially when the potential downside risk from weaker external demand remains considerable and confidence remains fragile. Even though the February PMIs were much stronger than expected and property prices in top-tier cities appear to be edging higher again, a meaningful withdrawal of policy support is unlikely until at least Q3 this year.

  Policymakers have been reiterating the message of enhancing domestic demand and boosting private consumption since last December’s Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC). However, the likelihood of significant nationwide cash handouts remains very low. Between budget constraints and cultural preferences, the government will continue the past approach of using infrastructure investment to stimulate the economy when needed. Consumption-boosting measures will likely stay within the realm of tax subsidies for autos and home appliances, accelerated rental housing construction, and small-scale local consumption coupons.

  Although the precise policy stance announced at or after the Two Sessions is difficult to predict, especially with the once-in-a-decade reshuffling at the State Council and in various ministries, there should effectively be a “policy put” for at least 5% growth this year. With GDP growth only reaching 3% last year and with 2023 marking the first year of the new premier’s 10-year term, the government’s tolerance for below 5% GDP growth this year will be low.

  Two key risks, one external and one domestic

  The most significant downside risk to China’s 2023 economic growth is exports. Chinese exports fell sharply in late 2022 (-9.9% yoy in December), in line with the experience of other export-oriented economies such as South Korea and Taiwan and suggesting external demand has indeed been softening. Recent media reports also highlighted empty containers at ports and dwindling overseas orders. Goldman’s baseline expectation is flat real goods exports this year as its global team projects no recession in the US or Europe over the next 12 months. However, if exports turn out to be a lot weaker than expected, policymakers may need to boost monetary/fiscal easing and infrastructure building again. Given the more limited fiscal space after last year’s efforts to stabilize the economy, additional infrastructure investment would likely be financed through policy banks and commercial banks instead of government debt.

  Onshore conversations suggest business and consumer confidence remains the main risk to growth domestically. Without confidence, the post-Covid recovery may not be sustainable as private firms are reluctant to invest and households are reluctant to spend. The recent message from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection against “financial elites” and “hedonism and extravagance” has raised concerns that anti-corruption campaign could intensify this year. Hence, communications from the top economic and financial policymakers in the new government after the Two Sessions will be particularly important to watch.

  There are certainly other risks in the economy. US-China relations have weighed on investor sentiment after the balloon incident, US Secretary of the State Antony Blinken postponing his trip to China, and media reports of China considering supplying arms to Russia. We may see more negative headlines in the coming months. However, this is a structural issue and the impact on economic growth this year still looks limited thus far. Financial risks from small and rural banks and local government financing vehicles (LGFV) could re-emerge later this year if NPLs are recognized and interest rates rise after policy normalization. But such risks can be managed and the Zunyi LGFV bond restructuring in January was an example. Risks of policy overtightening also appear low due to the experience of 2020/2021, and as discussed earlier, policymakers will be more patient this year.

  Overall, China’s post-Covid recovery has just started with some encouraging signs, setting the stage for Goldman’s forecast of 5.5% full-year GDP growth (and 6.5% yoy in Q4) which is above consensus (Bloomberg consensus 5.2%). The government is likely to remain patient in withdrawing support, and to stand by to ease in the event that recovery disappoints or exports fall short. After the strong February PMI print, the market will be focusing on hard data such as January/February trade (to be released on March 7) and retail sales (to be released on March 15). If these hard data surprise meaningfully to the upside, the risk-on market movements featuring stronger RMB and higher equity/rates/commodities will continue.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 21:20

• CCP Seeks To 'Replace' US With 'Tech-Powered Dystopia': Select Committee Testimony
  CCP Seeks To ‘Replace’ US With ‘Tech-Powered Dystopia’: Select Committee Testimony

  Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  China’s communist regime is engaged in a concerted effort to undermine and replace the United States by weaponizing Americans against one another, according to testimony received by a new congressional committee focused on competition with the regime.

  

  The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held its first hearing on Feb. 28, titled simply “The Chinese Communist Party’s Threat to America.”

  Committee Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) described the competition between the United States and CCP as an “existential struggle,” and said that the CCP, which rules China as a single-party state, was pitting “America against America,” hoping to topple the United States from within.

  Ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) agreed with the assessment, saying that the regime sought to exploit the political divisions endemic to democratic societies against the United States.

  “The CCP wants us to be fractious, partisan, and prejudiced,” Krishnamoorthi said.

  “We must rise to the occasion and prove them wrong.”

  To that end, however, Gallagher noted that many powerful and monied interests within the United States had made their fortunes outsourcing American jobs to China, and were pushing back on U.S. efforts to secure itself against the regime.

  “The CCP has found friends on Wall Street, in Fortune 500 C-suites, and on K Street who are ready and willing to oppose efforts to push back,” Gallagher said.

  “This strategy has worked well in the past, and the CCP is confident it will work again. Our task on this committee is to ensure that it does not.”

  ‘Tech-Powered Dystopia’

  Former National Security adviser H.R. McMaster testified on the issue, saying that the United States had “fallen behind” in the strategic competition with the CCP and that continued investments into China by American corporations were “underwriting our own demise.”

  McMaster said that the “false promises of liberalization” had led to a corporate and political class within America that had largely expected continued investment in China to transform it into a more modern and democratic society.

  Instead, he said, the regime had doubled down on its Marxist ideology and was now exporting destructive ideologies to erode support for the West.

  To that end, McMaster said that a “curriculum of self loathing,” which asserts the United States is the reason for the world’s problems, had taken hold of much of the popular and academic culture in the West, and prevented the nation from adequately defending itself against continued espionage, theft, and repression by the CCP.

  Likewise, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) said that corporate America was “scared and worried” about the possibility of angering CCP authorities, and that the regime was exploiting that fear to undermine the United States on the world stage.

  “China has a plan to replace the United States,” LaHood said.

  As such, Gallagher said that the Select Committee would help to coordinate legislative efforts from across congressional committees, and focus on tackling the CCP’s ideological, technological, economic, and military efforts against the United States and its allies and partners.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 21:00

• Suspected Poison Gas Attacks On Iranian Girls' Schools Have Made Hundreds Sick
  Suspected Poison Gas Attacks On Iranian Girls’ Schools Have Made Hundreds Sick

  A mysterious spate of mass illnesses across various parts of Iran only impacting groups of girls is beginning to cause panic and alarm, ironically also at a moment of continuing anti-government protests focusing on women taking off the veil. 

  Girls in up to 15 cities have been affected, Iranian authorities have said, in what are suspected to be mass poisonings. There’s currently speculation that an unknown entity, possibly hardline Islamists, may be throwing some type of poisonous gas mixture into schools and school yards, causing dozens of girls at a time to fall ill. The bizarre incidents began being reported back in November.

  

  Al Jazeera reports based on the latest statements from Iranian lawmakers that “Similar poisonings have since happened in several other schools in Qom, Tehran, the city of Borujerd in the western province of Lorestan and the northwestern city of Ardebi.” And further, “Scores of schoolgirls have been affected in each incident, and some have had to be hospitalized.”

  However, there have been no confirmed deaths in the incidents where the impacted students reported smelling unusual odors such as “rotten tangerines” or strong chemical smells, or even scents akin to perfumes. There have been rumors of a death resulting from the alleged poison attacks, but this was denied by local authorities. 

  School girls have reported feeling headaches and nausea, and there have been some reports of individuals experiencing temporary paralysis of their limbs.

  Really disturbing scenes from @1500Tasvir of Isfahan University of Technology students today being taken away on stretchers after another poison attack. Girls are being raped, blinded, imprisoned, killed, and now poisoned in #Iran. pic.twitter.com/Duit9QXOmS

  — Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) March 1, 2023

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  There’s growing suspicion that these could be attacks by hardline Islamists who condemn the idea of women receiving education, akin to neighboring Afghanistan’s recent banning of all girls’ schooling under Taliban rule. A top Iranian officials has suggested this is the case: 

  But a deputy health minister, Younes Panahi, earlier this week became the first official to confirm that the poisonings have been deliberate. He told state-linked media that “some people” wish to stop girls from going to school. He did not elaborate.

  Panahi said the poisonings have been caused by commercially available chemicals and cannot be transmitted because no viruses or bacteria are involved.

  In some instances entire classrooms of students and teachers reported smelling odors before mass sicknesses…

  One girl noticed a strange smell, and told her teacher she struggled to breathe. The teacher asked the other students if they smelled anything. Then the whole class fell ill.

  A string of mysterious, alleged poisonings stokes fear in Iran. My story:https://t.co/KFhYJCW9Bu

  — Sune Engel Rasmussen (@SuneEngel) March 2, 2023

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  As the poison attacks have in the past days been subject of growing international media attention, Washington has weighed in, with US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby calling the situation “deeply concerning” on Thursday. Investigations at multiple locations are still ongoing.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 20:40

• Would The Founders Approve Of Our Class Divisions?
  Would The Founders Approve Of Our Class Divisions?

  Authored by Adam Carrington via RealClear Wire,

  We live in politically divided times. How we describe the sources of our divisions, though, varies. Some focus on principles such as equality, justice, liberty, and order. Some take up policy disputes related to those principles while others look to economic class, race, or even geography.

  

  Does using these lenses to view our divisions violate our founding principles? Since humans will disagree about justice, especially its application, one can defend principled lines. Indeed, our Founders created mechanisms of elections and deliberative bodies to adjudicate those differences. Moreover, one can rightly conclude that race presents a troubling source of division in light of our commitment to human equality.

  But what about economic or social class?

  The issue of class holds particular salience today, because its relationship to our broader partisan divides has changed drastically over the past several decades. In a recent New York Times piece, Nate Cohn describes our partisanship in terms of education, a demarcation of social class that has largely replaced distinctions by economic class and even shows signs of mitigating racial voting disparities.

  In his explanation, Cohn shows how the growth of voters with college degrees has changed the political landscape. That block has increased dramatically over the last 60 years, rising to 41% of the voting population in the 2022 midterm elections. As that group has gained influence in the Democratic Party, those without college degrees have moved toward the GOP. Accelerating in 2016, working class voters now vote for Republicans at levels unimaginable decades ago.

  The difference in education marks a division in principles and resulting policy preferences. College-educated voters tend to hold more progressive views, especially on cultural matters like sexuality, abortion, and, to the degree it is cultural, immigration. Those without a college degree lean more conservatively on such matters. These divisions have replaced partisan lines more delineated by economic factors of rich, poor, and middle class and are lessening the voting gaps according to race. Turning from their existence to their legitimacy, one might argue that both instances of class divides contradict our commitment to equality – constituting various flavors of “identity politics” where we vote according to who a person “is” rather than what they believe or how they act.

  The Founders were keenly aware of class divisions. In Federalist 10, James Madison noted that “the diversity in the faculties of men” resulted in “the possession of different degrees and kinds of property.” He continued that “from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors, ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties.”

  We certainly do form partisan coalitions along class lines. The differences in “degrees” of property explain the divide in economic class. The distinction in “kinds of property” also reveal our educational alignment. A college degree is a discrete kind of property that privileges (or discourages) acquiring other intellectual or material possessions.

  Yet in Federalist 10, Madison argues these divisions won’t go away. They won’t go away because human beings can’t help thinking (at least in part) along these lines. They also won’t go away because of the commitment to the principle that government exists in large part to protect property rights – including their unequal and varied distributions.

  This illuminates an essential principle that oversees our class divisions, neither seeking to destroy them nor merely placating them. In Federalist 51, Madison wrote, “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” We must order our class divisions, whether economic or social, in the pursuit of justice.

  Class divides, including ones in education, can inform justice. In the “Essex Result” (1778), future federal judge Theophilus Parsons argued persons from different classes tended to make distinct, helpful contributions to the pursuit of justice. He saw that the few wealthy and educated people were better suited to contribute “wisdom, firmness, consistency, and perseverance.” The many, he noted, is where “we shall find the greatest share of political honesty, probity, and a regard to the interest of the whole.” You need both sets of virtues to pursue justice well. Thus you need both sets of perspectives to participate in politics. While operating according to majority rule, our system seeks to integrate these different elements into wise and moral policymaking – a kind of checking and balancing of interests toward the common good.

  At the same time, class divisions can threaten justice. Federalist 10 warned of “factions,” a group of persons driven by impulsive passions who sought to violate individual rights and the common good. Madison pegs the permanence of our class divisions as one reason we cannot completely rid ourselves of factions and their nefarious goals. Different classes will ever be tempted to say their class should alone rule and their interests as the only just ones, thereby laying the path to violating the rights of others. We can see elements of these perspectives at work in our contemporary politics, wherein the college educated look down on the morals and intellect of “the rest” while “the rest” question the wisdom and values of the college-educated.

  Thus our assessment of class divides, whether the older economic ones or the newer educational ones, cannot be a simple endorsement or condemnation. Instead we must return to the wisdom of the Founders. These ever-present divides must be channeled toward good and steered away from bad. We must seek justice, affirming human equality and liberty even as we recognize distinctions among us. While the Founders would tell us we have no other choice, they also would tell us not to despair. Our divisions may be a source of a better unity.

  Adam Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 20:20

• Blinken & Lavrov Meet For First Time Since Ukraine War At G20
  Blinken & Lavrov Meet For First Time Since Ukraine War At G20

  After last month President Putin declared Russia has suspended participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty, and at a moment the Kremlin is accusing Washington of aiding cross-border sabotage and drone attacks on its soil, proof has emerged that the two superpower rivals are still talking at the highest levels. 

  “Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday during the Group of 20 (G-20) conference about the war in Ukraine and the New START nuclear treaty,” The Associated Press reports Thursday.

  The two top diplomats spoke for about 10 minutes on the sidelines of the summit, which is the first such in-person meeting since the war’s start, coming shortly after the Ukraine war has entered its second year. Additionally the G20 reportedly ended without finding consensus on Ukraine, with India’s foreign minister citing “divergences” among countries represented. 

  

  Blinken referenced the talk with Lavrov at a press conference afterward, a summary of which said:

  At a news conference, Blinken said he told Lavrov that the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes and would push for the war to end through diplomatic terms that Kyiv agrees to.

  “End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and durable peace,” Blinken said he had told Lavrov. But, he noted that “President Putin, has demonstrated zero interest in engaging, saying there is nothing to even talk about until Ukraine accepts the new territorial reality.”

  Blinken said he also urged Russia to reverse “its irresponsible decision and return to” participation in the New START nuclear treaty.

  “Mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries,” Blinken said he told Lavrov, adding that the United States was always willing to discuss arms control with Russia no matter what irritants there are in the bilateral relationship.

  Also very notable is that Blinken indicated he put forward a “serious proposal” for the release of detained ex-Marine and US citizen Paul Whelan. He stressed that “Russia should take it.”

  Lavrov didn’t specifically respond to Blinken’s description of the meeting, and it’s unclear how he presented the Russian position. But a statement by Lavrov did emphasize that G20 was a failure in terms of addressing the Ukraine crisis: 

  “Unfortunately, the declaration on behalf of all G20 ministers could not be approved. Our Western colleagues, just as they did a year ago under the Indonesian presidency, tried by all means, by hook or by crook, using various rhetorical statements, to bring to the fore the situation around Ukraine, which they, of course, present under the sauce of the so-called Russian aggression,” he said.

  “Nothing good has come of this. The discussion, at least in some of the speeches by Western delegations, especially the G7 countries, has boiled down to emotional statements. And all of this, of course, was done at the expense of a normal discussion of the problems that really stand on the G20 agenda.”

  As for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, saying “The experience of the last few years – financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, terrorism and wars – clearly shows that global governance has failed.” He added: “We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can.”

  Thus Modi seemed to agree with Russia’s negative assessment concluding that G20 leaders fell far short of producing any meaningful resolutions on Ukraine. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 20:00

• Childhood Obesity: What You’re Not Hearing In The News
  Childhood Obesity: What You’re Not Hearing In The News

  Authored by Sally Fallon Morell via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  New guidelines on treating childhood obesity from the American Academy of Pediatrics call for early and aggressive treatment—including weight loss drugs for children as young as 6 and bariatric surgery for youths as young as 13—instead of what they call “watchful waiting or unnecessary delay of appropriate treatment of children.”

  

  The guidelines immediately stirred controversy, with critics on the left concerned about unequal access to treatment and conservative commentators suggesting that the guidelines offer an easy out for poor lifestyle choices. Critics from across the spectrum have noted the potential long-term consequences of putting children on drugs and performing irreversible surgery on teenagers.

  “Lifestyle choices” typically mean more exercise—along with less processed food and more fruits and vegetables in the diet—but no one in the mainstream is suggesting that the solution is to allow children to eat more natural saturated fat.

  Years ago, my co-author and colleague Mary Enig, who held a doctorate in nutritional sciences, had an interesting conversation with an official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency had researched the best way to fatten pigs—research that was never published. When they fed pigs whole milk or coconut oil, the pigs stayed lean—they found that the best way to fatten pigs was to feed them skim milk.

  The Department’s dietary guidelines stipulate reduced fat milk for all Americans above the age of 2. Could this policy—initiated in the 1990s—explain the increase in obesity among American children? A couple of studies indicate that this could be the case.

  The first, published in 2006 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at diet and metabolic markers in 4-year-old children in Sweden. “High body mass index was associated with a low percentage of energy from fat,” and greater weight was related to greater insulin resistance, especially in girls. In other words, children on low-fat diets tended to be overweight and had markers that presage diabetes later in life.

  The second study, published in 2013 in the Archives of Diseases of Children, looked specifically at children consuming reduced-fat milk, comparing the body mass index of those drinking 1 percent skim milk and 2 percent “whole milk” drinkers. (I put “whole milk” in quotation marks because commercial whole milk contains 3.5 percent fat, and whole milk obtained from the farm can contain up to 5 percent fat.)

  Across all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic status subgroups, those drinking 1 percent skim milk “had an increased adjusted odds of being overweight … or obese … In longitudinal analysis, children drinking 1 percent skim milk at both 2 and 4 years were more likely to become overweight/obese between these time points …” In other words—children on skim milk are more likely to become fat—just like pigs do!

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 19:40

• Surge In Mortgage Rates Above 7% Sends Homebuyer Applications To 28 Year Low
  Surge In Mortgage Rates Above 7% Sends Homebuyer Applications To 28 Year Low

  One month ago, when looking at the CME’s little known housing price futures, we noted that at least according to the market, housing has now bottomed. A lot has changed since then, and while the May 23 Housing Price Futures contract has continued to ascent confirming the market remains optimistic in a bottom…

  

  … the recent surge in mortgage may soon spoil the bullish outlook.

  According to Bankrate, the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage jumped back over 7%, rising to 7.06% (7.10% according to Mortgage News Daily), the highest level since early November.

  

  “Rates continue to move at the suggestion of economic data, and the data hasn’t been friendly. This is scary considering this week’s data is insignificant compared to several upcoming reports,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.

  When rates went over 7% last October – the highest level in more than 20 years – the housing market was being read its last rites, which was also one of the reasons why many expected the Fed to ease back on its tightening. But rates then pulled back in the following months, as inflation appeared to be easing. By mid-January rates were touching 6%, spurring a big jump in buyers signing contracts on existing homes.

  Since then, various housing indicators have shown a sizable improvement including new home sales , largely the result of a plunge in prices…

  

  … as well as pending home sales which rose an unexpectedly strong 8% from December, according to the National Association of Realtors. But the past four weeks have been rough, with rates moving sharply some 100bps since the start of February.

  

  That means that for a buyer purchasing a $400,000 home with 20% down on a 30-year fixed loan, the monthly payment, including principal and interest, is now roughly $230 a month more than it would have been a month ago. Compared with a year ago, when rates were in the 4% range, today’s monthly payment is about 50% higher, according to CNBC’s Diana Olick.

  As a result, mortgage applications from homebuyers have been falling for the past month and last week hit a 28-year low.

  

  “The recent jump in mortgage rates has led to a retreat in purchase applications, with activity down for three straight weeks,” said Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “After solid gains in purchase activity to begin 2023, higher rates, ongoing inflationary pressures, and economic volatility are giving some prospective homebuyers pause about entering the housing market.”

  At the start of this year, with rates slightly lower, it appeared the housing market was starting to recover just in time for the traditionally busy spring season. But that recovery has now stalled, and rising rates are only part of the picture.

  “Consumers have taken on a record amount of debt, including mortgage, personal, auto, and student loans,” noted George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com. “With rising interest rates, financial burdens are expected to increase, making consumer choices more difficult in the months ahead.”

  Which, of course, is just what the Biden admin and the Fed want.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 19:20

• New York City Agrees To Pay Hundreds Of Black Lives Matter Demonstrators For Arrest Tactics
  New York City Agrees To Pay Hundreds Of Black Lives Matter Demonstrators For Arrest Tactics

  Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The New York City government has agreed to pay more than 300 Black Lives Matter demonstrators $21,500 each to settle a lawsuit over the crowd control tactics police used in response to demonstrations in the summer of 2020.

  

  In July 2020, a group of four activists brought a lawsuit against the city on behalf of themselves and other demonstrators who were subjected to allegedly aggressive policing while they protested in the streets. The lawsuit specifically alleged police used unjustified force, such as strikes with their batons and fists and pepper spray, to subdue protesters.

  The plaintiffs also alleged police used a tactic known as “kettling,” in which they surrounded demonstrators to prevent them from escaping arrest. The police were also alleged to have excessively tightened plastic handcuffs on arrested protesters, “which caused pain, bruising and, in some cases, led to long-term injury.”

  During the course of their lawsuit, which became a class action case, the plaintiffs identified 320 people who fit their proposed class of demonstrators who were “detained and/or subjected to force by police while protesting police brutality on June 4, 2020 in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx.”

  On Tuesday, an attorney for the plaintiffs announced they had reached a settlement (pdf) with the city after more than two and a half years. The agreement stipulates that each of the 320 people who met the class description would receive $21,500, with an additional $2,500 awarded to each individual who was given a legal summons after they were arrested. The agreement also covered attorney’s fees for the plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit forward.

  

  Mott Haven Clash

  The June 4, 2020, protest in question took place just days after George Floyd, a black man, died in Minneapolis Police custody. Protests and riots spread throughout the county following Floyd’s death, including in New York City.

  The plaintiffs said they were among those “engaging in peaceful protesting” following Floyd’s death.

  Some demonstrations in New York City had devolved into violence and looting in the days leading up to the June 4, 2020, protest in Mott Haven. A man was shot during rioting and looting in the SOHO neighborhood of the city on June 1. In response to the violence and looting, then New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio imposed a curfew throughout the city, beginning at 8 p.m. every evening.

  

  According to the Mott Haven Herald, a demonstration began in the Mott Haven neighborhood at around 7 p.m. on June 4, 2020. Participants brought helmets and goggles because, as attendee Shellyne Rodriguez told the publication, “we had seen the violence perpetrated against protesters.”

  The lawsuit alleged police began kettling the protesters before the curfew, preventing some of the protesters from being able to leave before the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect. The lawsuit also alleged that plaintiff Charlie Monlouis-Anderle “never heard the police tell the protesters to leave or disperse” and said officers charged at some of the protesters at around 8:15 p.m. on June 4, 2020. Plaintiff Jarrett Payne claimed that he had heard because the protest was peaceful, it was allowed to continue past the 8 p.m. curfew.

  While the lawsuit did not claim all those arrested in Mott Haven on June 4, 2020, intended to obey the curfew, the complaint did claim that enforcement of the city-wide curfew was “inconsistent” and that “police used the curfew as a pretext for perpetrating mass violence on and arresting protesters, with no apparent justification for the differential treatment.”

  

  Clash Aftermath

  Following the June 4 Mott Haven arrests, NYPD officials said some of the marchers were “screaming and yelling at officers, throwing plastic bottles with unknown liquids, and acting in a disorderly manner,” the New York Daily News reported. NYPD officials also claimed they recovered hammers, wrenches, gas masks, and “additional items that could be used to cause injuries” from among the protesters they kettled and arrested in the Mott Haven neighborhood.

  Several protesters were left bloodied by the clash with police, according to the lawsuit. Plaintiff Jarrett Payne said that after he and other demonstrators were handcuffed, a police officer standing nearby said to him, unprovoked, “you got what was coming to you.”

  In his initial response to the June 4, 2020 protest, de Blasio said he had reviewed evidence showing that individuals at the protest were prepared to commit and encourage violence and that he wanted the New York City Police Department to intervene, and that “they did it effectively.”

  

  Human Rights Watch subsequently published a report disputing claims that those arrested had weapons and intended to commit acts of violence and vandalism. The HRW report pointed to a flyer for the event that advised attendees, “DON’T CARRY ANYTHING YOU DON’T WANT IN THE HANDS OF THE POLICE (IE: WEAPONS, DRUGS, FAKE IDS, ORGANIZING PLANS OR ADDRESS BOOKS, CASH OVER $100).” The HRW report also contended that weapons police found were never definitively linked to Mott Haven protesters.

  “The police have not provided any evidence that they found these items on protesters in Mott Haven or that these items were intended to be used for violent acts, saying only that they were “seized from individuals arrested in the Bronx last night,” the HRW report said.

  By October 2020, de Blasio appeared to reverse his stance on the police response to the Mott Haven protest, saying NYPD officers were in the wrong with their handling of the incident.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 19:00

• "Comply Promptly": House Judiciary, Intel Committees Send Demand Letters To Officials Who Discredited Hunter Biden Story
  “Comply Promptly”: House Judiciary, Intel Committees Send Demand Letters To Officials Who Discredited Hunter Biden Story

  Two House Committees investigating Biden family malarkey have sent demand letters to 29 Central Intelligence officials who discredited the Hunter Biden laptop story, and have yet to respond to previously requested interviews.

  

  Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Mike Turner, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, reiterated their requests for testimony, and asked that the officials “comply promptly,” the Daily Caller reports.

  “The Committee on the Judiciary and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are conducting oversight of federal law-enforcement and intelligence matters within our respective jurisdictions. The Judiciary Committee made a prior request to you for documents and information about the public statement you signed in October 2020 that falsely implied the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden was the product of Russian disinformation,” read the letters.

  Both The Washington Post and The New York Times noted the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop in March 2022, more than one year after the Daily Caller News Foundation first verified it. Recent reporting by the Daily Caller and other outlets has highlighted the Biden family’s extensive dealings with Chinese companies, including a presentation Hunter Biden gave promoting American shale and natural gas to Chinese businessmen. -Daily Caller

  “This request, to include a request for a transcribed interview before the Committees, remains outstanding. These documents and your testimony are necessary to further our oversight. As we begin the 118th Congress, we write again to reiterate our outstanding request and ask that you immediately comply in full,” read the letters. 

  “You have been on notice about our oversight request—and aware the request is outstanding—for months. For your convenience, we have attached the letter from the Judiciary Committee dated April 6, 2022. To date, you have not complied with this request. Accordingly, we reiterate our requests and ask that you comply promptly.“

  The letters were sent to:

  • Nada Bakos
  • David B. Buckley
  • David Cariens
  • Janice Cariens
  • Peter Corsell
  • Brett Davis
  • Glenn Gerstell
  • Steven L. Hall
  • Kent Harrington
  • Don Hepburn
  • Timothy D. Kilbourn
  • Andrew Liepman
  • Ronald Marks
  • Jonna Hiestand Mendez
  • John Moseman
  • Emile Nakhleh
  • Gerald A. O’Shea
  • David Priess
  • Pamela Purcilly
  • Chris Savos
  • John Sipher
  • Stephen Slick
  • Cynthia Strand
  • Greg Tarbell
  • David Terry
  • Gregory Treverton
  • John D. Tullius
  • David A. Vanell
  • Winston Wiley

  According to former Biden family business partner Tony Bobulinski, Joe Biden was “plainly familiar” with his brother James’ and son Hunter’s business dealings with  a CCP-linked Chinese energy company.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 18:40

• Schools Are Pushing Gender Pronouns And Hiding It from Parents
  Schools Are Pushing Gender Pronouns And Hiding It from Parents

  Authored by John Ransom via RealClear Wire,

  A new report reveals students in the nation’s largest school districts are encouraged to change their names and pronouns without parental knowledge, even though those same schools require parental approval for over-the-counter medicine.

  

  The report, released by The Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI), found that “eight of the nation’s 20 largest school districts allow students to use names and pronouns at school aligned with their gender identity without parental knowledge and consent,” said DFI.

  “Yet these same districts, including New York City Department of Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, and Chicago Public Schools, require parental permission to dispense over-the-counter medication to students at school,” added DFI. 

  The report comes one day after news broke that Saint Paul Public Schools are “explicitly instructing teachers to use students’ preferred names and pronouns with or without parental consent,” according to WZTV Nashville.

  The study said that while the schools rightfully followed parental wishes regarding medications, the same logic wasn’t applied to the use of pronouns, overthrowing “the social and cultural consensus that parents decided what was best for their children.”

  “School districts across the country are failing to respect the rights of parents to make decisions for their minor children,” said Bob Eitel, co-founder and president of DFI. 

  Dozens of parents spoke to the New York Times last month, saying that keeping secrets from parents is “a stab in the back from the school system.” 

  The Times details the work of a transgender clinical psychologist, Dr. Erica Anderson, who is advocating for parental rights. 

  “It’s well established that one of the most important factors in helping gender-questioning children is family support,” Anderson told Fox News Digital. 

  “So to deliberately deprive a child of support at a time potentially when they most need it is, I think, a serious error in judgment,” she added.

  The DFI report says there are serious risks that come with changing how children interact with teachers and peers.

  “Interim guidance from the United Kingdom’s National Health Service explains that ‘early social Transition’ in children is an ‘active intervention’ that ‘should not be viewed as a neutral act’” said the DFI report.  

  The survey said that a wide range of lobbying groups such as GLSEN, the Human Rights Commission, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Education Association authored a guidebook that recommends schools discuss gender pronouns with students while cautioning them to be prepared not to inform parents. 

  DFI recommended governors, legislatures, boards of education, education agencies, school districts, school boards and schools push back against such guidance to ensure that parents direct medical and mental health decisions for their children.   

  “Most importantly, parents should know their rights and demand transparency from their schools,” the report concluded. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 18:20

• Argentina's Power Restored After Blackout Plunged Half Of Country Into Darkness
  Argentina’s Power Restored After Blackout Plunged Half Of Country Into Darkness

  The national grid in Argentina has regained power after a fire caused damage to a high-voltage power line that sparked blackouts for half the country, according to BBC.

  More than 20 million individuals experienced a power outage on Wednesday afternoon when transmission lines were damaged by a fire in fields west of the capital, Buenos Aires. This incident also resulted in the state-run nuclear facility Atucha I and Embalse being shut down.

  In #Argentina, 20 million people were left without electricity due to a major fire that led to the shutdown of the Atucha I nuclear power plant. pic.twitter.com/aoFi8GbrCh

  — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 2, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  “Local TV station Todo Noticias reported that the grid was unable to meet 40% of electricity demand,” Bloomberg said. The graphic below shows the moment power generation plunged. 

  

  In Buenos Aires, blackouts were reported across many districts. Entire neighborhoods went dark, traffic lights malfunctioned, subway station service halted, and mass confusion was widespread. 

  Millions left in darkness as major power outage cripples several of Argentina’s provinces, including parts of Buenos Aireshttps://t.co/ceo6APxc8l pic.twitter.com/NJYIHj30Ir

  — AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 2, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Alejandra Rodriguez, a waitress in the capital, told AFP news her restaurant switched on a generator. She said the worst thing about the blackout was the uncertainty about when the power would be flipped back on. 

  “We cannot work, we cannot clean ourselves, our bathrooms have run out of water, we cannot attend to people,” Rodriguez said. 

  Rolling blackouts in Buenos Aires are not uncommon. Several years ago, a massive electrical failure left millions in the dark for days. An unannounced blackout is startling and usually causes mass confusion citywide. 

  In addition, Argentina has been suffering dangerous heat waves. Temperatures in Buenos Aires topped 37C (99F) yesterday during the blackout. 

  After years of insufficient power grid investment, this incident is not unexpected in the third-world country. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 18:00

• Rep. Comer Says He's Delaying Hunter Biden Subpoena To Ensure Win If It Goes To Court
  Rep. Comer Says He’s Delaying Hunter Biden Subpoena To Ensure Win If It Goes To Court

  Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has ignored a House Oversight Committee request for records of his business activities and potential access to classified information, but Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is holding off on a subpoena for now.

  

  On Feb. 8, Comer sent Hunter Biden a letter (pdf) requesting that he turn over a variety of records, including any communications with his father about his various foreign business activities and associates and any classified documents he may possess. Comer gave Hunter Biden a Feb. 22 deadline to respond to the information request.

  Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, outright rejected the information request in a Feb. 9 response letter shared with the Washington Post.

  Despite Lowell’s rejection letter and the missed deadline, Comer has yet to follow up his information request with a more forceful request through a legal subpoena. In comments with Punchbowl News, which were published on Wednesday, Comer said he is holding back on a subpoena for now, in order to ensure better odds that the subpoena will succeed if Hunter Biden’s legal team challenges the legal demand in court.

  “It’s not just issuing a subpoena, it’s about winning,” Comer said.

  “We give people plenty of time. When you do subpoenas, if you want to win in court, you have to show good faith effort that you tried to get the information. So we’re checking some boxes,” Comer continued.

  “When we do subpoena, if we have to, then we’re going to win the subpoenas in court,” Comer added.

  Biden’s Lawyer Says Records Request Not Legitimate

  In his letter rebuffing Comer’s initial effort to recover Hunter Biden’s records, Lowell said the Oversight Committee lacked a legitimate reason for seeking the records.

  “As your Letter is a sweeping attempt to collect an expansive array of documents and communications from President Biden and his family, I write to explain that the Committee on Oversight and Accountability lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and oversight basis for requesting such records from Mr. Biden, who is a private citizen,” Lowell wrote.

  Case law states that a House committee must have a specific legislative purpose to pursue records and it cannot simply be an excuse to launch an investigation.

  In his Feb. 8 letter, Comer said the activities of Hunter Biden and his business associates “raise significant ethics and national security concerns” and the Oversight Committee “will examine drafting legislation to strengthen federal ethics laws regarding public officials and their families.”

  “We will also analyze and make recommendations regarding federal laws and regulations to ensure that financial institutions have the proper internal controls and compliance programs to alert federal agencies of potential money laundering activity,” he wrote. “The Oversight Committee is committed to exposing the waste, fraud, and abuse that has taken place at the highest levels of our government, and your documents are critical to our investigation.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 03/02/2023 – 17:40

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• Letter To A Mainstream Straddler: Live Not By Half-Lies
  Letter To A Mainstream Straddler: Live Not By Half-Lies

  Authored by Margaret Anna Alice via Off-Guardian.org,

  I get it. You don’t want to be called a “conspiracy theorist.”

  

  You don’t want to be tarred an “anti-vaxxer.” A “science-denier.” A “far right-wing extremist.”

  You’ve got your reputation to protect. Your credibility. Your grant funding.

  So you water down the truth. You tiptoe around it. You don’t go there.

  And the philanthropaths, the tyrants, the Big Liars, the demociders, and their enablers continue to profit. Continue to conspire. Continue to torture. Continue to slaughter.

  They tell you right to your face what they’re doing.

  But if you turn around and quote them, you’re the crazy one.

  If you ask why a child, teen, athlete, or other healthy adult suddenly had a heart attack, got turbo cancer, or died, you’re the “truly disgusting” one.

  If you provide scientific evidence that a warp-sped experimental injection being peddled by a trillion-dollar industry in collusion with governments, federal agencies, the media, and Big Tech is dangerous, you—not the corporations raking in billions—are the grifter.

  If you ask what’s causing the sudden deaths and injuries that began surging in 2021 in hopes of preventing future such tragedies, you’re “morally reprehensible” (and yet “mocking anti-vaxxers’ COVID deaths … may be necessary”).

  

  If you point out that we should maybe think twice about pushing a product estimated to have killed thirteen million human beings and counting, you are the “major killing force globally” and guilty of “undermin[ing] public confidence” in said product.

  If you call genocide genocide, you are the enemy, the misinformation spreader, the anti–semite.

  If you dare point out Never Again is already happening, you get inquisitioned—even though Holocaust survivors and their relatives agree.

  If you call out governments for practicing totalitarianism and enacting policies that cause lethal collateral damage, you’re the granny-killer.

  If you challenge people to face the livid, electrifying grief of those who have lost loved ones to financially incentivized hospicide, you are making them uncomfortable.

  You know you’re living in a world of lies when the mob is more enraged at the whistleblowers revealing the deceptions, corruption, and murder than they are at the lying liars, corrupt corrupters, and murdering murderers themselves—indeed, they trip over themselves racing to defend their narcissistic abusers.

  As Edward Snowden says:

  When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are being ruled by criminals!”

  But guess what?

  Once they start calling you all those hideous names, you realize they’re nothing more than magician’s smoke.

  You gradually start to give fewer and fewer f*cks.

  You know you’ve hit zero when you feel the exhilarating liberation that comes from shouting the unfettered truth.

  That’s the words-can-never-hurt-you stage.

  You become untouchable.

  You start collecting libels like Purple Hearts.

  The more scars you can count, the more evidence of your efficacy, your threat to the hegemony.

  That’s when you can truly LIVE. And by truth, not by lies.

  If enough of us stand up and do that, we can hold the perpetrators accountable. We can present the unadulterated evidence of their crimes. And we can find justice … or die trying—like the members of the White Rose, whose piercing words still ring out nearly a century later:

  “We will not keep silent. We are your guilty conscience.”

  I’m going to tell you a secret.

  Stick it out long enough, and that tarnished reputation turns into burnished gold.

  Because when you are slandered by the propagandists, that means you are the good guy, even though the menticided public believes the opposite.

  In Upside-Down World, persisting in seeing things right-side up—despite the incessant, relentless, never-ending gaslighting—means you have valiantly guarded your most precious possessions: your integrity and your sanity.

  As e.e. cummings writes:

  To be nobody but
  yourself in a world
  which is doing its best day and night to make you like
  everybody else means to fight the hardest battle
  which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.”

  Most gratifying of all, you will find fellow members of your karass, and together you will set about fulfilling your wampeter.

  Once you are living in alignment with your values, you will feel the deepest joy fathomable.

  And when the COVID criminals have been found guilty, when the spells dissolve, the people will gradually awaken from their coma and recognize you for the hero you are.

  Or not. Most will be too ashamed to admit they’ve been conned. To realize they shielded fascist tyrants and attacked those trying to rescue them.

  Few find that courageous humility within themselves to acknowledge their complicity in totalitarianism.

  And so they will swathe themselves in soothing denial and lash out at anyone who tries to puncture it.

  But you will keep trying, anyway. Because that’s what truth-tellers do. That’s what people who care about saving lives do. That’s what people of integrity do, whether or not anyone ever recognizes it.

  You know in your heart what is true, and you speak it. And no one one can ever shut you up again.

  Even if they kill you.

  Your bravery will outlive you.

  Your words will remain like candles, lighting the path for future truth-droppers. And you will be at peace, in life and beyond.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 23:40

• SpaceX Doubles Number Of Rocket Launches
  SpaceX Doubles Number Of Rocket Launches

  Launching rockets into orbit is an expensive business.

  So costly that, thus far, only government space agencies or government-related companies have transported astronauts or satellites into space.

  Still, as Statista’s Florian Zandt details below, the private space industry has been booming in the last couple of years, with companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX providing varying degrees of suborbital and orbital space travel and transportation.

  In 2022, according to Bryce Tech, eleven private providers launched 94 rockets – of which SpaceX alone sent 61 rockets into orbit.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  This compares with 71 launches by space agencies or government-related companies.

  The leader in this category is the prime contractor for the Chinese space program, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (35 launches). It is followed by Roscosmos (21 launches), the space agency of the Russian Federation.

  However, the private and public sectors are often intertwined rather than strictly separated. For example, SpaceX has been awarded NASA contracts worth $2 billion in the agency’s fiscal year 2022 alone.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 23:20

• The World Economic Forum's 'AI Enslavement' Is Coming For You!
  The World Economic Forum’s ‘AI Enslavement’ Is Coming For You!

  Authored by J.B.Shurk via The Gatestone Institute,

  The mission objective of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is remarkably simple: the smartest, best people in the world should rule everyone else. In WEF parlance, their schemes of total supervision and behavioral modification will create a “sustainable” future for humanity. Humans become nothing more than “things” to be counted, shuffled, categorized, tagged, monitored, manipulated, and controlled. They become nothing more than cogs in the WEF’s great trans-humanist, technocratic machine.

  

  Pictured: WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab in Davos on May 23, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

  When Sir Thomas More wrote his socio-political satire about a fictional island society in the New World, he gave it the fabricated name, Utopia, derived from simple Greek and meaning, “no-place.” Although More was humorously telling his audience that his idealized community existed nowhere, centuries of central planners chasing the fantasy of utopian societies have failed to get the joke. Worse, for every peaceful religious community seeking separation from modern civilization, there is a power-hungry tyrant seeking to impose his will upon everyone else.

  It seems as if not a generation goes by when some megalomaniac does not rise to proclaim, “If only the world does exactly as I demand, I will deliver you paradise here on Earth.” Usually, these same narcissists go down in history remembered as either vainglorious buffoons or bloodthirsty tyrants — often both.

  Today, Klaus Schwab rises as leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to promise a “Great Reset” for the human race. He envisions a future Utopia achieved through technological precision, centralized management of Earth’s resources, careful observation of citizens, the merger of human and artificial intelligence, and the monopolization of government power by a small professional class with recognized expertise. Although the WEF has spent the last 50 years organizing conferences, publishing policy proposals, and connecting global leaders in industry, banking, information technology, intelligence gathering, military strategy, and politics, its mission objective is remarkably simple: the smartest, best people in the world should rule everyone else.

  Separated from all its pretensions about “saving the world” from unchecked population growth and climate apocalypse, the WEF is nothing new. Its foundations have been around at least since the time of Plato, when two and a half millennia ago the Greek philosopher proposed that the ideal city-state would be ruled by “philosopher kings.” Just as Plato surveyed the world and predictably concluded that people from his own vocation should logically govern everyone else, the World Economic Forum’s global “elites” have come to a strikingly similar determination. Far from advancing anything forward-looking or modern, Schwab and his acolytes walk in the footsteps of an ancient Greek. For a half-century, the WEF’s members have been on a quest to devise the perfect global government without any say from Western nations’ voting populations, and to no-one’s surprise, those same “philosopher kings” have nominated themselves to do the ruling. How convenient.

  As is true of almost all visions of Utopia, the WEF’s new world order will be remarkably centralized. “Experts” on climate change will determine what kinds of energy may be used by businesses and consumers. “Experts” on sustainability will determine what foods humans (at least the non-“elite” variety) may eat. “Experts” on disinformation will determine what kinds of news and which side of a debate may be known and promoted. “Experts” on healthcare will determine how many times each citizen must be injected with ever-newer “vaccines,” whether citizens must be kept in lockdown “for their own good,” and whether face masks must be worn to prove continuing compliance. “Experts” on extremism will determine what kinds of speech are “harmful.” “Experts” on racism will determine which groups in society have unfair “privilege.” “Experts” in inequality will determine whose property must be taken and which groups the State should reward. “Experts” in whatever the State requires will determine that the State is acting reasonably every step of the way. However, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, individual rights, and other personal liberties will mean little in a WEF-constructed future running on philosopher-king-approved expertise. At no time can an individual’s needs, wants or concerns be allowed to obstruct the “greater good.” This is Schwab’s drab vision of Utopia.

  Should he and the WEF clan pull it off, they will do so by using technology to enfeeble, rather than empower, the human race. Already, people have become familiar with the new terms of their future enslavement. Central bank digital currencies will allow governments not only to track every citizen’s income and purchase history in real time but also to limit what a person may spend depending upon government-determined social credit scores, perceived infractions of the “common good,” or perhaps unfair possession of “systemic privilege.” Digital vaccine passports will not only provide universal tracking of every person’s movements but also ensure stick-and-carrot compliance with future mandatory orders during declared “health emergencies.” Personal carbon footprints measuring each individual’s “culpability” for so-called man-made climate change will have the effect of recording everything a person eats and everywhere a person goes, while constantly “nudging” each citizen with digital rewards or penalties to modify behavior toward the government’s preferred standards. It should go without saying that when any government possesses such omnipotent powers, invasions of privacy will only expand, declared “health emergencies” will become only more numerous, and government “nudging” will become only more intrusive.

  If this sounds more dystopian than utopian and every bit like an unwanted prison overseen by unaccountable government agents, that is precisely what it is. WEF zealots do not even hide their intentions anymore, already going so far as to push the construction of “Smart Cities” or “Fifteen Minute Cities” in which tens of millions of people can be relocated, live side-by-side in small apartment complexes, and move through a constant maze of entrances and exits accessed solely through digital ID verification and approval. In essence, the goal is to create a digital panopticon implementing all of the surveillance programs above, to provide future rulers with absolute control, while leaving everyone else in a permanent state of docile incarceration. In WEF parlance, such schemes of total supervision and behavioral modification will create a “sustainable” future for humanity. No doubt prison wardens feel much the same way when convicts are kept behind bars in rows of secured cages. The difference is that in the WEF’s Utopia, no crime must be committed to reap Schwab’s unjust “rewards.”

  Now, if Westerners appreciated just what is coming their way, they might go apoplectic and resist the WEF’s new world order. For this very reason, the most important war being waged today is one that is never discussed openly in the press: the covert war over information. When people are allowed to openly debate ideas in the public square (including the digital square of social media and web pages free from search engine shadowbans), that “free market of ideas” will go where the people debating those ideas take them. For government “narratives” not only to survive but also to dominate all dissenting opinion, government-allied platforms must tilt the scales of free speech in their favor by ridiculing, censoring or outright criminalizing the thoughts and words of dissident minds. In any other market, such intentional interference would be considered anticompetitive collusion in violation of antitrust laws, but because the World Economic Forum’s acolytes treat competing free speech as dangerous “misinformation,” the “free market of ideas” has been transformed into a controlled “safe space” for the government’s friends.

  What happens when government ambivalence toward free speech is combined with the amoral technocratic force behind the WEF’s plans for global Utopia? Well, as Herr Schwab recently proclaimed at the World Government Summit in Dubai when discussing artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, and digital identities: “Who masters those technologies — in some way — will be the master of the world.” (After that, is one-world-government still considered a “conspiracy theory”?) If the WEF controls the digital world, then it will essentially control the people. Once the stuff of science fiction, WEF technocrats even have a plan to “hack” into employees’ minds by monitoring and decoding their brainwaves.

  Google is onboard with such thought control: it has declared its intent to expand a “pre-bunking” program meant to “immunize” people against what Google sees as “propaganda” or “misinformation” by indoctrinating unsuspecting Internet users with Google’s own home-brewed yet approved propaganda. By manipulating Google’s users without their knowledge, the search engine behemoth can ward off competing ideas — brilliant!

  Microsoft founder Bill Gates feels the same way. In an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, the self-styled vaccine expert argues that AI technologies should be used as powerful tools to combat “digital misinformation” and “political polarization.” This comes on the heels of a recent discovery that Microsoft has already been using a British think tank, Global Disinformation Index (GDI), to secretly blacklist conservative media companies in the United States and prevent them from generating advertising revenue. The kicker? The U.S. State Department has been funding GDI’s “disinformation” work through taxpayer funds to the National Endowment for Democracy and its own Global Engagement Center, which are then transferred to GDI before GDI launders the tawdry viewpoint discrimination back to Microsoft and other companies behind a thin veil of “objectivity.”

  Following the WEF model of creating an all-powerful partnership between private industry and government authority, Microsoft and the State Department have figured out how to undermine dissent by having third-party organization, GDI, label all such speech as “harmful disinformation” on its “Dynamic Exclusion List.”

  Likewise, publicly funded news outlets throughout the West — including Germany, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium — are working together to “develop online-based solutions” to target “hate comments and increasing disinformation.” What could possibly go wrong when State-controlled institutions collude to control the dissemination of information? As former Twitter “Trust and Safety” executive Yoel Roth testified before Congress, “Unrestricted free speech paradoxically results in less speech, not more.” From this Orwellian doublespeak standard, the clear line separating protections for free speech from outright censorship is whether the speaker articulates points of view in agreement with the WEF’s ruling coalition of Big Tech titans and government authorities or not. In Schwab’s Utopia, there is no room for truly free speech.

  What happens when the job of censoring the public is placed entirely in the digital hands of artificial intelligence? Even though some political leaders have cautioned that AI could be an “existential threat” to humanity, and even as technology pioneers such as former Google chief Eric Schmidt admit that AI-powered computer systems should be seen as every bit as powerful as nuclear weapons, the rush toward AI-constructed Utopia is full speed ahead. That should give anyone of sound mind troubling pause. After all, the cognitive biases of Big Tech “elites” such as Gates, Schmidt, and others will almost certainly translate into digital biases for any artificial intelligence.

  ChatGPT, an AI software program launched late last year, is already scaring the bejesus out of people with its overt political bias. In one instance, the AI concluded that using a racial slur was worse than allowing a city to be annihilated by a nuclear bomb. In another, the AI justified the suppression of Trump voters as necessary to “defend democracy” and prevent the spread of “dangerous speech,” while simultaneously arguing that “AI should not be used to suppress the free speech” of Biden supporters. Meanwhile, no sooner had some experimenters gained access to Microsoft’s new AI-powered chatbot than the synthetic brain started threatening people.

  These troubling early signs give credence to Schmidt’s warning that AI should be regarded as equally and inherently dangerous as nuclear bombs. Where he and other WEF-allied global “elites” differ from the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, however, is in their seemingly urgent desire to turn these awesome AI weapons directly against Western peoples.

  Clearly, if Schwab’s World Economic Forum intends to usher in an AI-powered Utopia where he can be the “master of the world,” then he has little use for human beings. In a very real sense, humans become nothing more than “things” to be counted, shuffled, categorized, tagged, monitored, manipulated, and controlled. They become nothing more than cogs in the WEF’s great trans-humanist, technocratic machine — useful for a time, perhaps, but ultimately a burden to feed and house and logically expendable. If artificial intelligence can do the thinking that Schwab needs and support the ideas that Schwab adores, then humans are just in the way. Should the World Economic Forum get its centralized Utopia, the “thingification” of the human race will be a giant step toward its eventual disposal.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 23:00

• Nomura Is First Bank To Call For 50bps Rate Hike In March
  Nomura Is First Bank To Call For 50bps Rate Hike In March

  In the past year, Japanese bank Nomura has had a penchant for making several headline-grabbing outlier predictions about the Fed: in June, Nomura was the first bank to call for a 75bps rate hike (a view that quickly became consensus after the infamous Hilsenrath weekend report that blew up the Fed’s forward guidance), followed one month later by an even more show-stopping forecast for a 100bps rate hike in July. Verdict: it got one out of two right (the former, not the latter), yet still not a bad track record when the bank takes the bold step to break away from the echo chamber herd.

  This week, the bank has done it again, because with the Fed seemingly torn between keeping its 25bps rate hike cadence or expanding it to 50bps to give the tightening campaign a little extra “oomph” after the latest FOMC minutes found that a higher than expected “few” favoed a 0.5% rate hike, Nomura’s strategist Aichi Amemiya writes that he now expects a 50bp hike in March followed by 25bp hikes in May and June “as persistent inflation drives the Fed to a more hawkish stance.”

  Here’s his reasoning, excerpted from the note (available to pro subs in the usual place):

  Resurging inflation leads to our revised forecast of a 50bp rate hike in March and a higher terminal rate

  Incoming inflation data suggest the underlying inflation trend may have stopped moderating in recent months. Although the Fed downshifted to a slower pace of rate hikes in 25bp increments in February, the recent persistence of inflation, in addition to strong labor markets and easy financial conditions suggests: 1) the Fed is unlikely to rely on goods-led disinflation, as it could be short-lived; 2) the underlying trend inflation may be re-accelerating, thus raising the risk of under-tightening and 3) aggressive policy action might be needed to tighten financial conditions. Against this backdrop, we revise our near-term Fed call as follows (Fig. 1):

  • A 50bp rate hike in March.
  • Two 25bp rate hikes in May and June to a terminal rate of 5.50-5.75%. Previously, we had expected one more 25bp rate hike in March to a terminal rate of 4.75-5.00%.
  • Our expectation for the first cut is unchanged at March 2024.
  • We maintain our view that balance sheet reduction will continue until March 2024.

  The 50bp rate hike in March may sound aggressive. That said, we think the Fed is further from a pause on rate hikes than we had originally believed and it is possible more front-loaded rate hikes will be needed to tighten financial conditions and control inflation.

  

  Furthermore, in light of the continued recent easing in financial conditions (chart below, right), Nomura suggests that the Fed may also be motivated to hit a higher terminal rate.

  

  Amemiya followed up on his forecast today, after Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari spoke at a moderated discussion, and Atlanta Fed President Bostic released an essay on “Striking a Delicate Balance” between reducing inflation and inflicting too much economic pain: Kashkari responded to the question about the size of rate hikes, indicating he is open-minded to either 25bp or 50bp, which lends support to Nomura’s call for a 50bp rate hike in March. However, he stressed that he is focused on the “dots,” referring to the FOMC participants’ projections for the federal funds rate. He said the March dots are much more important than how much the Fed will raise at the March meeting. He also said January data are concerning, and that he is leaning towards pushing up his policy path. That suggests he may revise up his 2023 dot to 5.625% from 5.375% in December.

  According to Nomura, “while we expect a 50bp rate hike at the March meeting, alternatively, the Fed could raise the median 2023 dot to 5.625% which may have a similar market impact. However, our key point is that we will likely see renewed hawkishness at the March meeting, either in the form of a 50bp rate increase or higher-than-expected dots.”

  Meanwhile, Bostic’s essay came across hawkish, in our view, however his terminal rate expectation remained at 5.00-5.25%. It’s also interesting that he mentioned “a narrative has gained momentum among some commentators that the Fed should consider reversing its course of raising the federal funds rate.” This comment is somewhat out of line with our perspective that recent market developments have tended towards expecting and pricing in a higher terminal rate.

  And while other banks are becoming increasingly hawkish, not one is willing to stake its credibility on predicting that the Fed will once again backtrack on its hiking strategy, and boost rates by 50bps this month after raising 25bps in February as that would be a tacit admission of yet another serious error, the third in a row (after “transitory inflation” and the 50bps to 75bps June rate hike switcheroo).

  

  For what it’s worth, after pricing in just one 25bps rate hike in March for much of February, the odds of a 50bps are now at 25bps and rising.

  

  More in the full note available here for pro subs.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 22:40

• A Contagion Of Cowardice
  A Contagion Of Cowardice

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Brownstone Institute,

  Jordan Peterson’s interview with Jay Bhattacharya is one of the more insightful conversations to come out of the post-pandemic period. It’s fascinating to see Peterson coming to terms with the sheer scale of the lockdown during which time he was rather sick. We could have used his voice then and I have no doubt that he would have been fantastic. 

  Fortunately for the whole world, we did have Jay. It’s not just his credentials or his position at Stanford University. It’s his erudition that gave him the reach to make sense of our times. In this interview, Jay explains the unfolding of events in ways I personally found compelling. 

  

  Summing up his message, the response upended a century of public-health practice based on computer modeling that was not informed by any medical knowledge or public-health experience. That modeling came to be fused with a military-style response that waged a war on a pathogen with no exit strategy. Powerful industrial interests saw their chance to realize every hidden agenda.

  That was further complicated by severe political division. Even though the lockdowns began under the Trump administration, opposing them mysteriously came to be seen as “right-wing” even though the pandemic policies violated every civil liberty, massively harmed the poor, divided the classes, and trampled essential freedoms, which one might suppose were concerns of the left, once upon a time.

  Jay knew from the beginning that these policies were a disaster but his method of dissent was to stick with the genuine science. He worked with colleagues very early in the pandemic on a study from California that proved that this war on the “invisible enemy” was futile. Covid was everywhere and only a mortal threat to a narrow group in the population needed to have its guard up while the rest of society moved on. That study was released in April 2020 and the implications were undeniably devastating to the war planners and the lockdown pushers. 

  The conclusion of the study seems rather commonplace now: “The estimated population prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Santa Clara County implies that the infection may be much more widespread than indicated by the number of confirmed cases.” But at the time, when dissent was rare if non-existent in scientific literature, and when the planning elite had declared its number one goal was to track, trace, and isolate, and thereby minimize infections through compulsion while we wait for a vaccine, this conclusion was anathema. 

  That’s when the attacks began. It was like he had to be shut down. The popular press began to go after him savagely, smearing both the study and his motivations (this later became outright censorship). At this point, he began to realize the intensity of the campaign against dissent and the push for full unity in favor of the policy response. It was not like normal times when scientists could disagree. This was something different, something fully militarized, when a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” consensus was being demanded by every institution. That meant no heresies against orthodoxy were allowed. 

  At this point, the interview breaks and Peterson begins to ask probing questions of the sort he likes concerning the spiritual struggle all of us face in life, a subject that clearly consumes him. Peterson believes that all seeming political struggles are ultimately personal ones. Do we back off and acquiesce to conventional wisdom or do we continue to walk toward the light as shown by our conscience? 

  He asks Jay if he faced this moment, and Jay admits that he did indeed face this. He realized that continuing in this direction – researching to discover facts and telling the truth as he saw it – would massively disrupt his career, his life, and everything he had worked for. Everything would be different, away from comfort and into an uncertain and isolated frontier. 

  He faced that choice and made the decision to go ahead, undeterred. But the decision cost him dearly. He could not sleep. He lost tremendous amounts of weight. He faced social and professional ostracism. He was dragged through the mud daily in the press and scapegoated for every policy failure. He was accused of conspiring with the purveyors of dark money and every other form of professional corruption. He found himself vexed beyond which he had ever been in his entire career. But still he forged ahead, eventually gathering with other scientists to make what is now a famous statement of public health that has stood the test of time. 

  It’s fascinating to consider how few in academia and professional life made this choice. And the reasons why are also intriguing. Many in these high-end professions, particularly in academia, have far less job flexibility than we think. We might suppose that a tenured professor in the Ivy League could and would say anything he wants. 

  The opposite is true. They are not like the barber or auto mechanic who can leave one job and easily start another a few blocks away or in a different town. They are, in many ways, trapped in their own circle of influence. They know this and dare not depart from industry norms. And too often those norms are formed by funding. Yale University, for example, gets more overall revenue from government than from tuition. That’s typical among such institutions. And now we know that media and tech are also on the payroll. 

  These conflicts of interest combined with careerism played themselves out in brutal ways over the last few years. The high-end professionals who left their jobs to work in the Trump administration, for example, found that they had no jobs waiting for them at all when that presidency came to an end. They were not welcomed back, certainly not by academia. They were discarded. I personally know of many cases where people on advanced career tracks lost all merely by agreeing to what they believed would be public service. 

  The lockdowns era made this much worse. All over the country, scientists, media figures, writers, think-tank officials, professors, editors, and influencers of all sorts were pressured to go along. Not just that: they were threatened to go along. And it wasn’t just the opinions that mattered. There were all sorts of compliance tests along the way. There was the “social distancing” test. If you didn’t practice in it, that somehow marked you as an enemy. The masking was another: you can tell who was who and what was what based on the willingness to cover one’s face. 

  The vaccine mandate, appallingly, became another wedge issue that enabled all kinds of professions to purge people. Once the New York Times claimed (summer 2021) to have evidence that the unvaccinated were more likely to be Trump supporters, that did it. The Biden administration and many university administrators felt that they had the ultimate weapon to achieve the purge about which they had longed dreamed. 

  Comply or get tossed out. That was the new rule. And truly this largely worked. Diversity of opinion in many sectors of society – media, academia, corporate life, the military – is dramatically reduced after this epoch. It doesn’t matter that courts later came along to say it was all bad law. The damage had been done. 

  Still, we have to be curious about those who did not go along. What drove them to depart from their fellows? This is why Gabrielle’s Bauer’s book Blindsight Is 2020 is so valuable. It doesn’t cover them all but it does highlight the voices of many who dared to think for themselves. And yet here is the truth: among this dissident set, very few aren’t doing something completely different today from what they were doing in 2019. They have changed jobs, changed professions, changed towns and states, and even seen families and friendship networks shattered. 

  They all paid a huge price. I’m not sure I know any exceptions to the rule. Going against the grain and daring to stand up for truth in a time of totalitarianism is exceedingly dangerous. Our times have proven that. (Brownstone’s Fellows program is designed to give many of these purged people a bridge to a new life.) 

  I titled this article a contagion of cowardice. It might be too severe to call it that. Many people went along for entirely rational reasons. Another point to consider is that moral teaching in the great religions has not typically required absolute heroism. What it does require is not doing evil. And those really are different things. Staying quiet might not be evil; it’s only the absence of being heroic. St. Thomas even writes this in his treatise on moral theology: the faith celebrates but never requires martyrdom. 

  And yet it is also true that heroism in our times is absolutely necessary for the preservation of civilization when it is so brutally under attack. If everyone chooses the safe path, and crafts one’s decisions around the principle of risk aversion, the bad guys truly do win. And where does this land and how far can we slide into the abyss under those conditions? The history of despotism and death by government reveal where this ends up. 

  The best case for heroism over careerism and cowardice is to look back over these three years and observe just how much difference a few can make when they are willing to stand up for truth even when there is a big price to be paid for doing so. Such people can change everything. This is because ideas are more powerful than armies and all the propaganda that a machinery of power can muster. One statement, one study, one sentence, one small effort to puncture the wall of lies can bring down the whole system. 

  And then the contagion of cowardice comes to be replaced by a contagion of truth. Those who stood up for that form of contagion deserve our respect and gratitude. They also deserve to survive and thrive in the new renaissance that so many today are working to build. 

  More than people right now are willing to admit, civil society as we knew it collapsed over these three years. A massive purge has taken place within all the commanding heights. This will affect career choices, political alliances, philosophical commitments, and the structure of society for decades to come. 

  The rebuilding and reconstruction that must take place is going to rely – perhaps as it always has – on a small minority who see both the problem and the solution. Brownstone is doing its best and the most possible given our resources and the time in which we’ve had to operate. But much more needs to be done. The rebuilding requires a spiritual-level commitment to intelligence, wisdom, bravery, and truth. 

  Watch the full interview below:

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 22:20

• USPS Purchases Ford EV Vans To Electrify Nation's Largest Federal Fleet
  USPS Purchases Ford EV Vans To Electrify Nation’s Largest Federal Fleet

  The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced plans to purchase thousands of electric delivery vehicles from Ford Motor Company. The move is part of the USPS’s efforts to ‘greenify’ 75% of its fleet over the next five years. 

  USPS awarded a contract to purchase 9,250 Ford E-Transit Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). The first delivery of the EV mail trucks will begin in December of this year. 

  

  “These domestically sourced vehicles will be 100 percent electric and are part of the 21,000 COTS vehicles included in the Postal Service’s vehicle acquisition plan announced in December 2022. The Ford E-Transit BEVs are manufactured in Kansas City, Missouri,” USPS wrote in a statement. 

  In addition to the 9,250 EV mail trucks, USPS awarded contracts to three suppliers for the purchase of 14,000 charging stations to be installed at mail facilities. 

  “We are moving forward with our plans to simultaneously improve our service, reduce our cost, grow our revenue, and improve the working environment for our employees. Electrification of our vehicle fleet is now an important component of these initiatives,” Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in the statement. 

  The contract is a significant pivot for USPS, which had announced early last year that it would replace its 30-plus-year-old fleet of mail trucks with gasoline-fueled models made by Oshkosh Corp. That would’ve disappointed the Biden administration, which has been attempting to electrify the federal government’s fleet of vehicles. USPS has the nation’s largest federal fleet. 

  After facing criticism from some members of Congress and receiving a $3 billion funding boost from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, the postal service changed its approach in December. The organization then announced a new plan to acquire 66,230 electric delivery vans by 2028, costing $10 billion.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 22:00

• Chris Hedges: Russiagate Spells Journalism's Death
  Chris Hedges: Russiagate Spells Journalism’s Death

  Authored by Chris Hedges via ScheerPost.com,

  The media caters to a particular demographic, telling that demographic what it already believes – even when it is unverified or false. This pandering defines the coverage of the Trump-Russia saga…

  

  Reporters make mistakes. It is the nature of the trade. There are always a few stories we wish were reported more carefully. Writing on deadline with often only a few hours before publication is an imperfect art. But when mistakes occur, they must be acknowledged and publicized. To cover them up, to pretend they did not happen, destroys our credibility. Once this credibility is gone, the press becomes nothing more than an echo chamber for a selected demographic. This, unfortunately, is the model that now defines the commerical media.

  The failure to report accurately on the Trump-Russia saga for the four years of the Trump presidency is bad enough.

  What is worse, major media organizations, which produced thousands of stories and reports that were false, refuse to engage in a serious postmortem. The systematic failure was so egregious and widespread that it casts a very troubling shadow over the press. How do CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Mother Jones admit that for four years they reported salacious, unverified gossip as fact? How do they level with viewers and readers that the most basic rules of journalism were ignored to participate in a witch hunt, a virulent New McCarthyism? How do they explain to the public that their hatred for Trump led them to accuse him, for years, of activities and crimes he did not commit? How do they justify their current lack of transparency and dishonesty? It is not a pretty confession, which is why it won’t happen. The U.S. media has the lowest credibility — 26 percent — among 46 nations, according to a 2022 report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. And with good reason.

  The commercial model of journalism has changed from when I began working as a reporter, covering conflicts in Central America in the early 1980s. In those days, there were a few large media outlets that sought to reach a broad public. I do not want to romanticize the old press. Those who reported stories that challenged the dominant narrative were targets, not only of the U.S. government but also of the hierarchies within news organizations such as The New York Times. Ray Bonner, for example, was reprimanded by the editors at The New York Times when he exposed egregious human rights violations committed by the El Salvadoran government, which the Reagan administration funded and armed. He quit shortly after being transferred to a dead-end job at the financial desk. Sydney Schanberg won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Cambodia on the Khmer Rouge, which was the basis for the film “The Killing Fields.” He was subsequently appointed metropolitan editor at The New York Times where he assigned reporters to cover the homeless, the poor and those being driven from their homes and apartments by Manhattan real estate developers. The paper’s Executive Editor, Abe Rosenthal, Schanberg told me, derisively referred to him as his “resident commie.” He terminated Schanberg’s twice-weekly column and forced him out. I saw my career at the paper end when I publicly criticized the invasion of Iraq. The career-killing campaigns against those who reported controversial stories or expressed controversial opinions was not lost on other reporters and editors who, to protect themselves, practiced self-censorship.

  But the old media, because it sought to reach a broad public, reported on events and issues that did not please all of its readers. It left a lot out, to be sure. It gave too much credibility to officialdom, but, as Schanberg told me, the old model of news arguably kept “the swamp from getting any deeper, from rising higher.”

  The advent of digital media and the compartmentalizing of the public into antagonistic demographics has destroyed the traditional model of commercial journalism. Devastated by a loss of advertising revenue and a steep decline in viewers and readers, the commercial media has a vested interest in catering to those who remain. The approximately three and a half million digital news subscribers The New York Times gained during the Trump presidency were, internal surveys found, overwhelmingly anti-Trump. A feedback loop began where the paper fed its digital subscribers what they wanted to hear. Digital subscribers, it turns out, are also very thin-skinned. 

  “If the paper reported something that could be interpreted as supportive of Trump or not sufficiently critical of Trump,” Jeff Gerth, an investigative journalist who spent many years at The New York Times recently told me, they would sometimes “drop their subscription or go on social media and complain about it.” 

  Giving subscribers what they want makes commercial sense. However, it is not journalism.

  News organizations, whose future is digital, have at the same time filled newsrooms with those who are tech-savvy and able to attract followers on social media, even if they lack reportorial skills. Margaret Coker, the bureau chief for The New York Times in Baghdad, was fired by the newspaper’s editors in 2018, after management claimed she was responsible for its star terrorism reporter, Rukmini Callimachi, being barred from re-entering Iraq, a charge Coker consistently denied. It was well known, however, by many at the paper, that Coker filed a number of complaints about Callimachi’s work and considered Callimachi to be untrustworthy. The paper would later have to retract a highly acclaimed 12-part podcast, “Caliphate,” hosted by Callimachi in 2018, because it was based on the testimony of an imposter. “‘Caliphate’ represents the modern New York Times,” Sam Dolnick, an assistant managing editor,said in announcing the launch of the podcast. The statement proved true, although in a way Dolnick probably did not anticipate.

  Gerth, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who worked at The New York Times from 1976 until 2005, spent the last two years writing an exhaustive look at the systemic failure of the press during the Trump-Russia story, authoring a four-part series of 24,000 words that has been published by The Columbia Journalism Review. It is an important, if depressing, read. News organizations repeatedly seized on any story, he documents, no matter how unverified, to discredit Trump and routinely ignored reports that cast doubt on the rumors they presented as fact. You can see my interview with Gerth here.

  The New York Times, for example, in January 2018, ignored a publicly available document showing that the FBI’s lead investigator, after a ten month inquiry, did not find evidence of collusion between Trump and Moscow. The lie of omission was combined with reliance on sources that peddled fictions designed to cater to Trump-haters, as well as a failure to interview those being accused of collaborating with Russia.

  The Washington Post and NPR reported, incorrectly, that Trump had weakened the GOP’s stance on Ukraine in the party platform because he opposed language calling for arming Ukraine with so-called “lethal defensive weapons” — a position identicalto that of his predecessor President Barack Obama. These outlets ignored the platform’s support for sanctions against Russia as well its call for “appropriate assistance to the armed forces of Ukraine and greater coordination with NATO defense planning.” News organizations amplified this charge. In a New York Times column that called Trump the “Siberian candidate,” Paul Krugman wrote that the platform was “watered down to blandness” by the Republican president. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, described Trump as a “de facto agent” of Vladimir Putin. Those who tried to call out this shoddy reporting, including Russian-American journalist and Putin critic Masha Gessen were ignored.

  After Trump’s first meeting as president with Putin, he was attacked as if the meeting itself proved he was a Russian stooge. Then New York Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote of the “disgusting spectacle of the American president kowtowing in Helsinki to Vladimir Putin.” Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s most popular host, said that the meeting between Trump and Putin validated her covering the Trump-Russia allegations “more than anyone else in the national press” and strongly implied — and her show’s Twitteraccount and YouTube page explicitly stated — that Americans were now “coming to grips with a worst-case scenario that the U.S. president is compromised by a hostile foreign power.” 

  The anti-Trump reporting, Gerth notes, hid behind the wall of anonymous sources, frequently identified as “people (or person) familiar with” — The New York Times used it over a thousand times in stories involving Trump and Russia, between October 2016 and the end of his presidency, Gerth found. Any rumor or smear was picked up in the news cycle with the sources often unidentified and the information unverified.

  A routine soon took shape in the Trump-Russia saga.

  “First, a federal agency like the CIA or FBI secretly briefs Congress,” Gerth writes.

  “Then Democrats or Republicans selectively leak snippets. Finally, the story comes out, using vague attribution.”

  These cherry-picked pieces of information largely distorted the conclusions of the briefings. 

  The reports that Trump was a Russian asset began with the so-called Steele dossier, financed at first by Republican opponents of Trump and later by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The charges in the dossier — which included reports of Trump receiving a “golden shower” from prostituted women in a Moscow hotel room and claims that Trump and the Kremlin had ties going back five years — were discredited by the FBI.

  “Bob Woodward, appearing on Fox News, called the dossier a ‘garbage document’ that ‘never should have’ been part of an intelligence briefing,” Gerth writes in his report.

  “He later told me that the Post wasn’t interested in his harsh criticism of the dossier. After his remarks on Fox, Woodward said he ‘reached out to people who covered this’ at the paper, identifying them only generically as ‘reporters,’ to explain why he was so critical. Asked how they reacted, Woodward said: ‘To be honest, there was a lack of curiosity on the part of the people at the Post about what I had said, why I said this, and I accepted that and I didn’t force it on anyone.’”

  Other reporters who exposed the fabrications — Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept, Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone and Aaron Mate at The Nation — ran afoul of their news organizations and now work as independent journalists.

  The New York Times and The Washington Post shared Pulitzer Prizes in 2019 for their reporting on “Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connection to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration.”

  The silence by news organizations that for years perpetuated this fraud is ominous. It cements into place a new media model, one without credibility or accountability. The handful of reporters who have responded to Gerth’s investigative piece, such as David Corn at Mother Jones, have doubled down on the old lies, as if the mountain of evidence discrediting their reporting, most of it coming from the FBI and the Mueller Report, does not exist. 

  Once fact becomes interchangeable with opinion, once truth is irrelevant, once people are told only what they wish to hear, journalism ceases to be journalism and becomes propaganda.

  *  *  *

  NOTE TO READERS FROM CHRIS HEDGES: There is now no way left for me to continue to write a weekly column for ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show without your help. The walls are closing in, with startling rapidity, on independent journalism, with the elites, including the Democratic Party elites, clamoring for more and more censorship. Bob Scheer, who runs ScheerPost on a shoestring budget, and I will not waver in our commitment to independent and honest journalism, and we will never put ScheerPost behind a paywall, charge a subscription for it, sell your data or accept advertising. Please, if you can, sign up at chrishedges.substack.com so I can continue to post my now weekly Monday column on ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show, The Chris Hedges Report.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 21:40

• Beijing To Fast-Track Taiwan 'Reunification' Plans After "Extraordinary" Year Of Tensions
  Beijing To Fast-Track Taiwan ‘Reunification’ Plans After “Extraordinary” Year Of Tensions

  Increased military interactions with the US, including ramped-up American naval sail-throughs and flyovers of the contested Taiwan Strait, appear to have hastened Beijing’s timeline for Taiwan “reunification”. 

  A top Chinese lawmaker and adviser, National People’s Congress deputy Li Yihu, announced this week, “The [Communist] Party’s overall strategy for resolving the Taiwan issue in the new era has basically taken shape, and the strategic goals and focus of the future reunification cause have also become very clear.”

  He specified the process will be sped up, saying ahead of the annual National People’s Congress meeting which kicks off March 5 that “The mainland will promote national reunification on a fast development track.”

  

  Notably this also comes after then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ultra-provocative visit to the self-ruled island in August, and further after multiple weapons packages have been announced by the Biden administration. Current Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is also said to be planning a Taiwan visit in the near future.

  Li Yihu specifically cited an “extraordinary” year for tensions in the region, as well as heightening global events and rivalries:

  A series of new policies, including on Taiwan, are expected to be unveiled during the gathering, along with the defense budget and a government reshuffle. Comments made by NPC deputies such as Li can provide some insight into Beijing’s policymaking, which remains largely secretive.

  In the interview, Li – who is also dean of the Taiwan Research Institute at Peking University – said 2022 was an “extraordinary” year for cross-strait ties and that its major events would “have a certain impact on the future direction” of the relationship.

  Without doubt he also had in mind the Russia-Ukraine war, and the comparisons which some US officials as well has pundits have increasingly made between the Ukraine and Taiwan situations.

  Beijing has consistently rejected such comparisons, stressing that Taiwan is under Chinese sovereignty, also finding the idea that the situations are parallel to be an offensive.

  It may have “become very clear” to Li Yihu what the plan is, but this scmp article doesn’t provide any information at all about what it might be https://t.co/gbAMv5m5CF

  — Joel Atkinson 舟綽 (@Joel_P_Atkinson) March 1, 2023

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  President Xi Jinping and his officials have long emphasized a Chinese plan of peaceful unification via political processes, also as the mainland has deep involvement with opposition movements and parties in Taipei. But it’s unclear whether Washington’s pushing past “red lines” have changed the calculus. Certainly we are witnessing the beginnings of a more assertive and aggressive Chinese posture vis-a-vis the Taiwan question.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 21:20

• "There Are Simply Too Many People Who Have College Degrees And Too Few Jobs That Require Them"
  “There Are Simply Too Many People Who Have College Degrees And Too Few Jobs That Require Them”

  By Howard Wang of Convoy Investments

  I anticipate that inflation will gradually decrease over the next year and a half to an equilibrium rate of approximately 3%. This path will be bumpy, with month-to-month fluctuations. We believe that the markets continue to expect inflation to decrease more quickly than it will. Below I show the actual inflation rate vs the market’s expectation of future inflation over the next 5 years. This mispricing of inflation expectations mean that inflation-linked bond remains an attractive asset class for us.

  

  The primary driver of inflation is money supply. After the 2020/21 printing spree, during which the Fed was calling for transitory inflation despite all signs pointing to inflation, we saw a delayed effect of approximately a year or so. I believe there is now a similarly delayed but inevitable disinflationary process as most inflationary factors are eliminated. We are now facing high-interest rates, falling stock markets, low savings rates, slowing housing markets, decreasing money supply, lower fiscal spending.

  Commodity inflation is now significantly lower than service inflation. So the primary question this year is what happens to the labor market.

  

  I believe services inflation is partly caused by a misallocation of labor in our society, which has been building up for many years due to an education bubble. This effect was amplified by Covid. There are simply too many people who have college degrees and too few jobs that require them. As a result, we are seeing layoffs in certain sectors like tech and finance while other blue-collar service sectors are still struggling to find enough workers. This issue will take some time and some pain to resolve as the money supply falls and the overall economy slows down. For now, the labor market continues to be tight. Below, I show our labor cost pressure gauge, which indicates some progress, but there is still a long way to go.

  

  While many people think high payroll numbers are inflationary, I believe they are a sign of disinflation because it means that more people are returning to the labor pool. Below I show the civilian participation rate in the US, which is steadily rising but still substantially below Covid levels.

  

  In terms of consumer financial health, we are getting close to pre-Covid levels. Below, I show the household financial obligations as a percentage of income. This metric dropped significantly during Covid and has been rising fairly rapidly since then, as high inflation and high finance costs are pressuring consumers from all sides.

  

  The shortage of manual labor will create a crop of companies that can use AI/tech or clever labor management/ outsourcing to provide cheaper labor. These are opportunities that we will keep an eye on.

  In 2023, we can expect volatility with ups and downs on a month-to-month basis, but the market will remain relatively range-bound. The Fed needs to make a real effort to contain inflation, as uncontrolled inflation in a country with $31T in debt is a recipe for disaster. At the same time, they need to ensure that the markets and the economy do not crash too hard, and they need to make sure that inflation does not tank too much, which would make debt servicing even more challenging. As I mentioned in my last letter, the Fed has to walk a tight rope, and the markets will follow.

  Therefore, I expect the markets to be volatile but sideways, with long rates remaining high and sideways, offering attractive yields if you can stand the volatility from the duration. Cash/Treasury bills will continue to be a strong performer as they offer excellent returns and safety.

  The longer the markets remain sideways while inflation is high, the more time inflation has to eat away at its real valuation. Over time, I expect the stock market to grow at a rate of something like real GDP + inflation + 3-4%, which currently translates to about 10% nominal returns a year. For example, below is a chart showing the S&P 500 nominal price versus where the S&P500 should be based on the economy. While the price is -16% below its peak, on a growth/inflation-adjusted basis, it has already seen a -26% adjustment. If inflation remains high and markets remain sideways, we may not need to see a drastic drop in prices for the valuation adjustment to happen.

  

  The traditional 60/40 stock-bond portfolio will continue to face challenges. The 60/40 portfolio is based on the idea that stocks generate returns while bonds provide protection during recessions, so they are negatively correlated and diversify each other. While this thesis worked in the two decades before 2022, it does not hold true if the recession is caused by inflation, as in those scenarios, both bonds and stocks drop. Looking back to the 70s and 80s, we find that stocks and bonds were positively correlated. Below, I show a loose relationship between how stocks and bonds correlate with each other over time and the inflationary environment. While bonds now provide relatively attractive long-term yields, it will struggle to diversify against short-term drops in the stock market. Investors may need to have an explicit allocation to real assets as an inflation hedge.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 21:00

• Future Ford Vehicles Could Repossess Themselves
  Future Ford Vehicles Could Repossess Themselves

  Ford Motor Company filed a US patent application that shows autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles could potentially repossess themselves if their owners miss lease or loan payments.

  The idea of self-driving cars repossessing themselves might sound dystopian, but it is not surprising that automakers are considering this technology to ensure payment. Repossession is a common practice, and as we’ve described recently, cracks are beginning to form in the subprime auto loan market (read: here & here). 

  While this patent application was first filed in Aug. 2021 and formally published on Feb. 23, it could be years before Ford implements such a technology. 

  The patent, titled “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle,” explains how a future lineup of Ford vehicles would be capable of “[disabling] a functionality of one or more components of the vehicle.”

  

  If a driver misses a car payment, the vehicle will disable air conditioning, radio, GPS, and cruise control to irritate the driver.  

  

  If the owner misses more payments, the repossession cycle will worsen. The car would emit an “incessant and unpleasant sound.” Worse, the vehicle might lock out the driver on certain days until payments are made. 

  And still, if the lockout doesn’t work and payments are missed, the vehicle could drive to a safe, nearby location for a repo team to seize it and avoid confrontation with the owner. 

  It is worth noting that filing a patent application does not necessarily mean the technology will be implemented, but the takeaway is a glimpse of the dystopic future. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 20:40

• Secession Is Inevitable. It's About When, Not If
  Secession Is Inevitable. It’s About When, Not If

  Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

  Never is a very, very long time in politics. Yet whenever the topic of secession or so-called national divorce comes up, how often do we hear that “secession will never happen.” It’s difficult to tell if people using the term “never” actually mean it. If they mean “not in the next ten or twenty years,” that’s plausible. But if they truly mean “not in the next 100 (or more) years,” it’s clear they’re working on the level of absolutely pure, unfounded speculation. Such statements reflect little more than personal hopes and dreams.

  

  Experience is clear that the state of most polities often changes enormously in the span of a few decades. Imagine Russia in 1900 versus Russia in 1920. Or perhaps China in 1930 versus China in 1950. If someone had told the Austrian emperor in 1850 that his empire would be completely dismembered by 1919, he probably would have refused to believe it. Few British subjects in 1945 expected the empire to be all but gone by 1970. In the 1970s, the long-term survival of the Soviet Union appeared to be a fait accompli. For a visual sense of this, simply compare world maps from 1900 and 1950. In less than the span of a human lifetime, the political map of the world often changes so as to be unrecognizable.

  Yet there are always those who are quite comfortable with the status quo and who tell themselves it will continue indefinitely. Many find comfort in the hope that their favorite national regime will be a thousand-year reich, living on indefinitely into the rosy future of “progress.” Claims to political immortality are also frequently important as rallying cries in support of the state. As French Marxist philosopher Régis Debray noted, the idea that “France is eternal” may be empirically untrue, but the sentiment nonetheless serves to motivate the French soldier or French nationalist to preserve his regime.

  Meanwhile, the opposite impulse, a recognition of the regime’s mortality is seen by many as a kind of heresy against the national political idols. It may be obviously true, but to say it out loud is “treason.” The cry of “traitor,” of course, has long been the go-to strategy for those with an emotional attachment to the regime. Like many heresies before it, this one must not go unpunished. Thus, “traitor” was the cry of the French republican who thought it better to butcher women and children in the Vendée rather than allow that portion of France to be independent. It was the cry of the Turkish imperialist who carried out a genocide against Armenian separatists.

  The reality is that the current shape of any regime is more tenuous than many hope. The debate is not whether the US regime will fundamentally change in size and nature. The question is when and in what way. Those who are willing to examine the possibility of gradually unwinding state power peacefully through decentralization—rather than letting internal national conflicts explode into violence and revolution eventually—display a far better grasp of political history than the knee-jerk unionists.

  The emotional nature of this opposition to secession can be seen in the fact that the opposition grants no middle ground in the debate. The only allowable options are the status quo or war.

  Options for the “middle ground” include a confederation built on a consensus model in the style of the old Dutch Republic. There is the model of the very loose confederation in the style of the old Swiss confederation. There is the option of a customs union with voluntary membership, such as the European Union. There is the option of a mutual defense compact among independent polities, as we find in a multitude of defense leagues. None of these options require a state that imposes nationwide regulation and taxation in the manner of the enormous administrative state that we have today.

  Yet most of those who oppose secession also oppose all of these options. We don’t hear, “Well, secession is too far, so let’s move toward a much more decentralized model.” Why do we never get this olive branch from the centralizers? Because their opposition to secession is more about supporting the status quo. They want a national government to impose nationwide policy in a way that reflects the national ruling class’s values. It’s the colonialist mindset all over again: “Oh, we can’t let those people in state X set their own rules for elections/abortion/trade. Those people are too unenlightened/racist/stupid to be allowed local autonomy.”

  This intransigence can also be found in the way that the opposition often delights in the idea of using violence against potential separatists. Congressman Eric Swalwell, for instance, suggested the US government use nuclear weapons against internal separatists. And then there are those who make light of the idea of a second blood-soaked civil war. Indeed, the insistence on tying twenty-first-century decentralization to a war in the mid-nineteenth century (160 years ago) implies that the unionist “solution” back then justifies the same solution now. Note the emphasis is always on the American Civil War and not on the many examples of peaceful secession movements: Iceland from Denmark, Norway from Sweden, Singapore from Malaysia, Malta from the British Empire, and the Baltic states from the Soviet Union (to name a few). Instead, the average American antisecessionist is apparently obsessed with making war against his own neighbors. 

  I guess Marjorie Taylor Greene and the rest of Northern Georgia did not learn their lesson about secession the first time.

  *SHERMAN INTENSIFYING* pic.twitter.com/ivz4NYEAVf

  — Nunca Trumpismo (@NeverTrumpTexan) February 20, 2023

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  Of course, that sort of thing can only be carried out today if modern Americans are willing to die and kill—or have their children die and kill—in the name of “preserving the union.” How many are willing to do this? Hopefully not many. Those who are willing to do it can only be described as fanatics.

  The presence of these proviolence antisecessionists does remind us of the continued danger of political union, however. Those who favor union may interpret mere discussions of disunity as a sign of the need for ever-greater federal control over the population. This is also the strategy preferred by states: tendencies toward disunion are countered by an ever-stronger and ever-more-unyielding state. The strategy is tried and true. This is how a fragmenting Roman Empire was preserved for another 150 years after a breakup seemed all but assured during the third century. The emperor turned the empire into a military dictatorship. The same method of imposing unity has been employed countless times across countless polities—and at great cost to human rights and self-determination. Yet not even Diocletian’s dictatorship could ultimately prevent the secession of the western regions of the empire. (Justinian’s later attempts at reunifying Italy with the empire failed as well, and only brought enormous and unnecessary death and destruction.) Secession and disintegration have always been inevitable for large diverse states. The Romans were not immune. The Americans are not immune.

  The answer lies not in doubling down on political unity, maintained through endless violence or threats of violence. Rather, the answer lies in peaceful separation through expanded self-determination, regional autonomy, confederation, and consensus. The choice we now face is between a rearguard attempt at preserving political unity “forever” and facing the inevitable reality. On one side, there are the unionists with their devotion to the status quo and their colonialist mindset. On the other side are those who seek to temper the power of the central state and pursue local self-determination. The centralizers are on the wrong side and will ultimately be on the losing side as well.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 20:20

• Hunter Biden's Criminal Defense Lawyer Quits Amid "Unease And Dissent"
  Hunter Biden’s Criminal Defense Lawyer Quits Amid “Unease And Dissent”

  Hunter Biden’s criminal defense attorney, Joshua Levy, has quit the ‘first son’s’ legal team amid an environment of “unease and dissent” among the 4-lawyer legal team.

  

  Levy’s departure came after the addition of Abbe Lowell, who is also on Hunter’s team, and was hired in December to defend Hunter and the Biden family amid nine congressional probes which include wire fraud and money laundering.

  Levy was hired to work on opposing congressional investigations looking into the complex web of Biden family dealings, the NY Times reports. 

  Mr. Lowell’s addition led to the exit of another lawyer — Joshua A. Levy — who specializes in helping clients facing congressional inquiries.

  President Biden’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, had recommended Mr. Levy for the job. But Mr. Levy had clashed with Kevin Morris, a lawyer and close adviser to Hunter Biden who has lent him money to pay his back taxes and some other bills, according to a person familiar with the strategy. Mr. Morris and Hunter Biden brought on Mr. Lowell late last year, prompting Mr. Levy’s departure. -NY Times

  According to the report, Levy was not pleased with Lowell’s legal strategies – such as bombarding Rudy Giuliani, former Biden associate-turned-whistleblower Tony Bobulinski, and 12 others with “litigation hold” demand letters in order to preserve records from the “laptop from hell” – a strategy seen by some critics as a desperate PR stunt to change the narrative in favor of the Bidens.

  According to Mike Davis, founder and president of the pro-Trump Article III Project, the letters were a “desperate, frivolous, and laughable” effort that would end up damaging the Biden family position since the lawsuit will lead to discovery, including Hunter Biden’s on-camera deposition, Breitbart reports.

  Lowell’s involvement in Hunter’s defense has not only forced the exit of Levy but has also triggered infighting with attorney Chris Clark, another high-profile attorney who leads Hunter’s criminal defense. Clark’s professional history includes working as a partner at the same Washington, DC, law firm where Rep. Liz Cheney’s husband works. The firm’s biography of Clark says he represents Hunter in the “grand jury investigation regarding tax issues.” -Breitbart

  In December, NBC News reported that Lowell will be primarily responsible for coordinating Hunter Biden’s response to the anticipated congressional oversight investigations, as well as other legal issues.

  The incoming House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said at a news conference in November that Hunter Biden and other Biden family members will be a major focus, specifically if the family’s business activities “compromise U.S. national security and President Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality.”  -NBC News

  The White House in November accused Congressional Republicans of stoking long-debunked conspiracy theories” in regards to allegations from House lawmakers that President Biden was actively involved in overseas business dealings with his son Hunter.

  “Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically-motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories,” said White House Counsel office spokesman, Ian Sams.

  Except, here’s former Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski explaining how the Biden family brought him in on a shady Chinese energy company deal.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 20:00

• The Top 3 Reasons The US Has Entered The Inflation Death Spiral
  The Top 3 Reasons The US Has Entered The Inflation Death Spiral

  Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

  Rapidly rising food, housing, medical, and tuition prices are squeezing Americans, and many do not understand the real cause of their falling living standards…

  

  That confusion opens the door for opportunistic politicians who promise supposed freebies to ease the pain of inflation. Many, unfortunately, succumb to this siren’s call.

  Perverse as it is, the policies offered to people suffering from inflation create even more inflation. In other words, inflation has a way of perpetuating itself, much like a heroin addiction.

  We are already seeing cockamamie schemes in the US, like “inflation relief checks,” which attempt to solve the problems of inflation by creating more inflation.

  The political-inflation cycle follows a clear pattern:

  Step #1: In a fiat currency system, the government will inevitably print an ever-increasing amount of currency to finance itself.

  Step #2: This makes prices and living costs rise faster than wages.

  Step #3: The average person feels the pain but doesn’t understand what’s happening.

  Step #4: More people support politicians who promise freebies to relieve the pain inflation causes.

  Step #5: The government prints more currency to pay for the freebies.

  Step #6: This creates even more inflation, and the cycle repeats.

  At this point, we have to ask ourselves whether the political situation in the US will improve.

  Unfortunately, the data points to a troubling but inevitable answer… “no.”

  Reason #1… is simple: a growing majority of US voters receive government money.

  When you count everyone who lives off political dollars instead of free-market dollars, we’re already well north of 50% of the US population.

  In other words, the US has already crossed the Rubicon. There’s no going back.

  The growing majority of voters who collect net benefits from the government is a built-in constituency to perpetuate policies financed by ever-increasing inflation. That’s why I think the US has entered an unstoppable inflation death spiral.

  The notion that people living off government largesse and political dollars will come around to a libertarian way of thinking is a pipe dream.

  In short, there is simply no hope for positive change from the political system. That means one thing is sure: an ever-increasing amount of inflation to pay for all these government programs.

  For many decades, Argentina has infamously been trapped in a perpetual cycle of hyperinflation and socialism from which it cannot escape. And now, the US has entered that same inescapable cycle.

  Reason #2: Central Planning Doesn’t Work

  Although many don’t realize it, interest rates are simply the price of money.

  And they are the most important prices in all of capitalism.

  They have an enormous impact on banks, the real estate market, and the auto industry. It’s hard to think of a business that interest rates don’t affect in some meaningful way.

  However, interest rates are controlled by a politburo of central planners at the Federal Reserve, not set by the market like any other price.

  It’s bizarre that most people don’t understand the implications of this or thoughtlessly accept it as a “normal” part of a supposed free-market economy.

  Further, it should be self-evident to everyone that economic central planning doesn’t work.

  In Marx’s Communist Manifesto, the 5th plank calls for the “centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.”

  That is a perfect description of the Federal Reserve and other central banks.

  In reality, the Fed is nothing more than a politburo of bureaucrats attempting to centrally plan the economy by tinkering with the money and interest rates—the most important prices in all of capitalism.

  Even if we presume the Fed has benign intentions—which it doesn’t—central planning is impossible, and failure is inevitable.

  That’s why the Fed is in a mission-impossible situation—much like it was impossible for the Soviets to centrally plan their economy.

  Here’s the bottom line…

  The Fed can’t save the day any more than the State Planning Committee of the USSR could.

  Reason #3: Inflation Is the Only Way To Manage an Impossible Debt Load

  The media, politicians, and financial analysts often flippantly use the word “trillion” without appreciating what it means.

  A trillion is a massive, almost unfathomable number.

  The human brain has trouble understanding something so huge. Let me put it into perspective.

  If you earned $1 per second, it would take 11 days to make a million dollars.

  If you earned $1 per second, it would take 31 and a half years to make a billion dollars.

  And if you earned $1 per second, it would take 31,688 years to make a trillion dollars.

  So that’s how enormous a trillion is.

  When politicians carelessly spend and print money measured in the trillions, you are in dangerous territory.

  It took until 1981 for the US government to rack up its first trillion in debt. The second trillion only took four years. After that, the next trillions came in increasingly shorter intervals.

  Today, Congress has normalized multi-trillion dollar federal spending deficits.

  The US federal debt has gone parabolic and is well over $31 trillion.

  If you earned $1 per second, it would take over 995,000 YEARS to pay off the current US federal debt.

  And that’s with the unrealistic assumption that it would stop growing.

  The US federal government has the largest debt in the history of the world. And it’s continuing to grow at a rapid, unstoppable pace.

  The debt will keep piling up as the US government continues to pay for political promises. It’s virtually inevitable.

  Below is a chart of the Congressional Budget Office’s deficit projections for the next decade. These estimates will almost certainly be too rosy, as they often are.

  Even by the CBO’s optimistic projections, the US government will have a cumulative deficit of over $15 trillion for the next ten years.

  

  Historically, there has been a vast foreign appetite for US federal debt, but not anymore.

  In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US government has launched its most aggressive sanctions campaign ever.

  As part of this, the US government seized the US dollar reserves of the Russian central bank—the accumulated savings of the nation.

  It was a stunning illustration of the dollar’s political risk. The US government can seize another sovereign country’s dollar reserves at the flip of a switch.

  The Wall Street Journal, in an article titled “If Russian Currency Reserves Aren’t Really Money, the World Is in for a Shock,” noted:

  “Sanctions have shown that currency reserves accumulated by central banks can be taken away. With China taking note, this may reshape geopolitics, economic management and even the international role of the U.S. dollar.”

  China is one of the largest holders of US Treasuries, and it indeed took note of what happened to Russia. It’s probably why Beijing cut its Treasury holdings to a 12-year low.

  Even US allies, like Japan, have also cut their Treasury holdings.

  There are numerous other examples. But it’s clear the world isn’t hungry for more US debt right now.

  So, who is going to finance these incomprehensible budget shortfalls? The only entity capable is the Fed’s printing presses.

  In other words, the government has no choice but to finance itself through legalized counterfeiting and debasing the currency.

  Allow me to simplify this fraud in three steps.

  Step #1: Congress spends trillions more than the federal government takes in from taxes.

  Step #2: The Treasury issues debt to cover the difference.

  Step #3: The Federal Reserve creates US dollars out of thin air to buy the debt.

  It’s also crucial to note that inflation is a big bonus to debtors. It allows you to borrow in dollars and repay in dimes.

  And since the US government is the biggest debtor in the history of the world, it is the single largest beneficiary of inflation.

  The US government can only finance itself with the Fed’s printing presses. It is also incentivized to debase the currency as it attempts to deal with its impossible debt burden.

  What Happens Next

  When you put together the pieces, the big picture becomes clear.

  I believe the US has entered an inflationary death spiral for three reasons:

  Reason #1: A growing majority of voters who collect net benefits from the government is a built-in constituency to perpetuate policies financed by ever-increasing inflation.

  Reason #2: Even if we presume the Fed has benign intentions—which it doesn’t—central planning is impossible, and failure is inevitable.

  Reason #3: The US government cannot finance itself without the Fed’s printing presses. It is also incentivized to debase the currency as it attempts to deal with its impossible debt burden.

  In short, it’s game over.

  The US government is fast approaching the financial endgame.

  They have no choice but to “reset” the system—that’s what governments do when they are trapped.

  Think of it like this.

  Imagine a spoiled child playing a board game, and rather than admit he is losing, he flips the board.

  This is what governments will do now that they are financially checkmated. They can’t win, even in their own rigged game, and now they are left with the choice of losing power or flipping the board. Since power does not relinquish itself voluntarily, we should presume they’ll choose to flip the board.

  I suspect it could all go down soon… and it won’t be pretty.

  It could result in an enormous wealth transfer from you to the parasitical class—politicians, central bankers, and those connected to them.

  What exactly will the “reset” look like?

  What can the average person do about it?

  I just released an urgent PDF guide, “Survive and Thrive During the Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years.” Download this free report to discover the top 3 strategies you need to implement today to protect yourself and potentially come out ahead.

  With the global economy in turmoil and the threat of a “Great Reset” looming, this guide is a must-read. Click here to download it now. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 19:40

• Animals Dying Across Ohio State Parks After East Palestine Train Derailment
  Animals Dying Across Ohio State Parks After East Palestine Train Derailment

  After a catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, early last month, President Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, corporate media outlets, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Environmental Protection Agency, and some local officials have ensured air monitoring and water sample tests show everything is under control. 

  But is it? Well, not according to the local newspaper Ohio Star. Reporter Hannah Poling said a confidential source told her that a wildlife biologist and consultant for the federal forestry received hundreds of reports over the last several days from forestry workers discovering “hundreds of dead animals in Ohio’s parks.” 

  Several labs across the country have received specimens of whole minks, deer, elk, worms and livers of such animals, and they are finding toxicities that are off the charts, the source said. 

  “These highly toxic levels are the exact chemicals that were released from East Palestine. Wayne National Forest and Shawnee State Forest in Ohio, are downriver from East Palestine and are two parks where samples are from,” the source continued. 

  Meanwhile, the BBC reported: 

  Nearly 45,000 animals have died as a result of a toxic train crash this month in an Ohio town, environmental officials have said.

   The figure from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources updates the initial estimate of 3,500 animals dead after the 3 February derailment.

  The source also told the Ohio Star that Governor DeWine attempted to block scientists from entering state parks:

  The governor and the railroad were blocking scientists from getting soil samples in East Palestine, but they were able to still grab some for testing. Likewise, the soils are highly contaminated,” the source said.

  The source claims that the Ohio governor only uses his own hand-picked scientists to “give him the results he wants.”

  “It is heartbreaking to me that politicians like DeWine make an issue like this political. It should not be. He should be doing all he can to protect people, animals and the environment and not just cover his own behind,” the source added.

  There have been countless reports of health concerns by the residents of East Palestine and surrounding communities following the derailment of ten railcars carrying hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, that first responders eventually burned off. 

  

  After the burn, “some residents say they have been diagnosed with bronchitis, lung issues, and rashes that doctors and nurses suspect are linked to the chemical exposure,” said Ohio Star. 

  According to local TV station WKBN, residents have sent a list of demands for Norfolk Southern and the federal government, outlining the much-needed help their community deserves after a botched response. 

  Below is the list of demands:

  1. Relocation for anyone who wants it. Folks don’t feel safe and aren’t getting their questions answered. Anyone who wants to be relocated to hotels or safe housing should have the opportunity to do so, paid for by Norfolk Southern.
  2. Independent environmental testing. The EPA must immediately begin and continue to test soil, water, and air, including for dioxins throughout the region, and commit to regular public meetings to explain findings. Norfolk Southern must pay for an independent scientist, hired by residents, to represent the community and participate in all technical meetings regarding testing, cleanup, and safety plans.  
  3. Ongoing medical testing and monitoring: We still don’t know what the short and long-term health impacts of this disaster will be. Federal Health & Human Services must provide ongoing health monitoring to evaluate those in the impacted region, guarantee health coverage, and Norfolk Southern must cover the cost.
  4. Dispose of the toxic waste safely: The EPA cannot take the solid waste from the derailment and dispose of it in the Heritage Thermal toxic incinerator, in nearby East Liverpool, that has already been polluting our communities for years. This will only further spread the contaminants. Norfolk Southern must stop destroying evidence – we need a safety plan before resuming cleanup from the derailment site.
  5. Norfolk Southern pays 100% of the costs. Taxpayers shouldn’t foot this bill. Norfolk Southern made this mess, they should clean it up. The company must commit to paying 100% of the costs for testing, relocation, cleanup, medical monitoring and costs, and an independent science advisor.

  The Biden administration’s lack of leadership and physical presence after the train derailment was a crucial mistake. What happened is that Biden’s opponents, such as former President Trump, seized on this opportunity for political points ahead of the 2024 presidential election cycle. Trump met with local officials and residents last week. Some have said this is “Biden’s Katrina.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 19:20

• The New Racism Of The Elect
  The New Racism Of The Elect

  Authored by Julian Adorney via The Mises Institute,

  A new movement is emerging on the left.

  This movement sells guilt and self-flagellation and calls it antiracism. Its leaders present themselves as the absolute authority on race relations and claim that being a good white person means following their instructions. But when it comes to racism, “the elect” (to borrow Columbia University linguistics professor John McWhorter’s term for members of this movement) misdiagnose the problem and posit solutions that will make bigotry in the United States worse.

  

  The commentators of the elect are myriad, but three books represent the face of the movement.

  • The first is White Women: Everything You Already Know about Your Own Racism and How to Do Better, a New York Times bestseller by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao.

  • The second is White Fragility, the bestseller by Robin DiAngelo that launched a movement.

  • The third is lesser known but equally impactful. Is Everyone Really Equal? is a textbook for education graduate students in which DiAngelo and coauthor Özlem Sensoy lay out the intellectual underpinnings of this new movement.

  The elect attempt to tackle bigotry, but their leaders assume we’re still stuck in the 1920s. Jackson is a black woman and Rao is a South Asian woman. They make a big deal of the fact that they’re willing to work together in spite of having different ethnicities. They call it an “incredibly radical act” that “can’t be overlooked.” The authors seem to think they live in a world where people of different skin colors all hate each other and that their personal willingness to bridge the gap is somehow transformative.

  That’s a grim worldview, and luckily, it doesn’t match reality. In 2015, the Pew Research Center noted that 46 percent of newlywed US-born Asian Americans were in an interracial marriage and that 18 percent of African American newlyweds were married to someone of a different race. The plain fact is that lots of Americans are comfortable spending their lives with someone of a different racial background. What Jackson and Rao describe as “radical” is, for most of us, an ordinary fact of life.

  It’s not just Jackson and Rao. DiAngelo sees racists everywhere. In White Fragility, she claims that all white people are racist. This is true, she stresses, even if you have a black spouse, have black children, or marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for civil rights in the 1960s. As she puts it, “Racism is unavoidable and . . . it is impossible to completely escape having developed problematic and racial assumptions and behaviors.” And if you think for whatever reason that you’re not racist, then you’re part of the group that “cause[s] the most daily damage to people of color.” God forbid we actually admit that people of different races can see each other as human beings.

  In Is Everyone Really Equal? DiAngelo and Sensoy go even farther. They argue that different ethnic groups are locked in a bare-knuckle brawl for power. As an example, they note that children in wealthy schools often learn different things than children in poor schools, but they argue that children and parents in wealthy schools are actively maintaining this discrepancy.

  “Because this system benefits the affluent child,” the authors claim, “she will be less invested in removing these barriers for others. In fact, she (and those who advocate for her) will most often resist removing these barriers.”

  It’s true that people do advocate for their own interest, but DiAngelo and Sensoy go much farther. They posit a world of mustache-twirling villains who use their position on top to place a boot on the necks of the people on the bottom. DiAngelo and Sensoy seem blind to the possibility that people of different racial groups might have some empathy for each other, let alone friendship or love.

  Fortunately, most of us don’t live in the hateful world that the authors imagine.

  In the real world, members of different races do in fact care for each other, as shown by (for instance) the multitude of white people who advocate for criminal justice reform because they believe that doing so will help minorities in addition to creating a more just society.

  To be clear, the United States does have real problems with racism and other forms of bigotry. Conservative commentator David French talks about how having a black daughter opened his eyes to the frequent racism of his fellow Americans. The American Jewish Committee reported that one in four Jewish Americans experienced anti-Semitism in the past year.

  But it’s also important to note that we no longer live in 1920. According to Gallup, 94 percent of Americans approve of interracial marriage. According to an index created by the Anti-Defamation League (a nonprofit dedicated to measuring and combating anti-Semitism), 10 percent of Americans harbor anti-Semitic attitudes, whereas 24 percent of Western Europeans harbor the same. These numbers reflect a country that’s completely at odds with what DiAngelo, Jackson, Rao, and Sensoy seem to see.

  Not only do the elect misdiagnose the problem, but their proposed solutions would exacerbate bigotry and racial tensions in the United States. None of these authors aspire to treat people of all races, genders, and ethnicities with equal dignity. Jackson and Rao say terrible things about white women.

  In an interview with Forbes, they sneer at how white women react when they’re confronted by the authors. They call this reaction “the full white woman” and describe it as, “the Broadway musical, crying, eye-rolling, arms folded, just the whole thing.” In White Fragility, DiAngelo claims openly that all 204 million white Americans are racist and dismisses anyone who disagrees with her as suffering from “white fragility.”

  Is Everyone Really Equal? is, if anything, even worse. Early in the book, DiAngelo and Sensoy critique the idea that “people should be judged by what they do, not the color of their skin.” They call this idea “predictable, simplistic, and misinformed.” For DiAngelo and Sensoy, the goal seems to be the opposite of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream that his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

  For the elect, the goal is not a cosmopolitan society where everyone is seen as human first.

  Rather, the goal seems to be a world where we are defined by our immutable characteristics first and where those immutable characteristics determine how we may be treated. Some races must be treated with respect, while others can be derided.

  The elect position their solution as the only way to combat racism, but they’ve got it exactly backwards. Commentators on every side of the political spectrum offer real solutions to tackle bigotry. But we’ll never get to the tolerant and cosmopolitan society most of us want until we stop listening to people who think our immutable characteristics define who we are and how we should be treated.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 19:00

• Trump Unveils 'Universal Import Tariffs' As Part Of 2024 Campaign
  Trump Unveils ‘Universal Import Tariffs’ As Part Of 2024 Campaign

  Former President Donald Trump unveiled a key talking point for his 2024 campaign – an “America First” trade plan which would include universal tariffs on most goods imported into the US.

  

  Trump laid it out in a Feb. 27 statement, which called for a system of universal baseline tariffs on most foreign products, while rewarding American domestic production. The new policy will “tax China to build up America,” according to Trump.

  “Joe Biden claims to support American manufacturing, but in reality, he is pushing the same pro-China globalist agenda that ripped the industrial heart out of our country,” Trump said in a video titled “Pro-American Trade to End our Reliance on China.”

  Trump claims his plan is a matter of “both economic and national security,” and would “implement a bold series of reforms to completely eliminate dependence on China in all critical areas.”

  As Rabobank notes;

  In short, his proposed “America First” policy would phase in a system of universal, baseline tariffs on most foreign products, the revenue from which would reduce taxation on firms producing in the US. Moreover, tariffs “would increase incrementally depending on how much individual foreign countries devalue their currency.”

  Honestly, I am not shocked. I am sure no other markets Daily uses the word “mercantilism” as freely as this one has for around a decade – I had to explain the word in 2015, and then how pre-WW2 US presidents were mercantilists; when Trump floated his first tariffs, I argued phasing them in to allow onshoring FDI before imported goods got more expensive would be logical; ‘Weaker currency = higher tariffs’ was factored into our report on ‘Balance of payments -and power- crises’; and clearly there is still US momentum to change things even if means breaking things, which we factored into our ‘The World in 2030’ report  – which we may arrive at early; moreover, as argued last year, and this, ‘Bretton Woods 3 Won’t Work’.

  *  *  *

  To that end, since Trump left office in 2021, the former president has been highly critical of Joe Biden – who he says has punished domestic producers, while rewarding multinational corporations that outsource labor to hostile nations such as communist China.

  “Biden’s pro-China economic program puts America last and it’s killing our country,” said Trump, adding “My cutting-edge trade agenda will revitalize our economy by once again putting America first. We will quickly become a manufacturing powerhouse like the world has never seen before.”

  Trump’s plan would strip China of its most favored nation trade status, while adopting a four-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods, as well as a ban on federal contracts for any company that outsources to Beijing.

  Under Biden, the US-China trade deficit has risen nearly 10% to $382.9 billion in 2022 alone. The Biden admin, meanwhile, has proposed a nearly $2 trillion tax increase on Americans.

  “Very simply, the Biden agenda taxes America to build up China,” said Trump, adding that he would instead “tax China to build up America.”

  As the Epoch Times notes;

  Universal Baseline Tariff Would Fill US Treasury’s Coffers, Says Trump

  Trump said if he were in charge, he would instead impose a universal baseline tariff on foreign producers of most imported goods, rather than raise taxes on American producers.

  He said that he would gradually increase tariffs if other countries manipulate their currency or otherwise engage in unfair trading practices, like China.

  The former president believes that if tariffs on foreign exporters go up, domestic taxes on American workers, families, and businesses would decrease substantially.

  “That means a lot of jobs coming in,” the 45th president said.

  Trump said higher tariffs will “increase incrementally depending on how much individual foreign countries devalue their currency.”

  He slammed the practice of other countries devaluing their currency, while subsidizing their industries, saying they were engaging in what he described as “trade cheating and abuse.”

  He noted that they still “do it now like never before,” but that his administration had largely stopped it “and it was going to be stopped completely within less than a year” if he stayed in office, according to Trump.

  “As tariffs on foreign producers go up, taxes on American producers will go down, and go down very substantially.”

  In addition to reducing the nation’s massive trade deficits and bringing back home millions of manufacturing jobs, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate said that his economic program would rake in “trillions and trillions of dollars” for the Treasury Department from foreign countries, which would instead be invested in “American workers, American families and American communities.”

  45th President to Continue His Administration’s Trade Policy

  Trump called his new economic plan the “linchpin of a new Strategic National Manufacturing Initiative, that builds on my historic success in ending NAFTA.”

  He called his replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) one of the most “tremendous” achievements of his administration.

  After negotiating with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Trump replaced the NAFTA accords with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which covered more than $1.3 trillion of commerce throughout North America.

  The USMCA required that 75 percent of automobile components be manufactured in the United States, Canada, or Mexico in order to avoid tariffs.

  The new trade agreement required that 40 to 45 percent of automobile parts be made by workers who earned at least $16 an hour by 2023.

  The USMCA was expected to create thousands of new jobs tied in the auto industry in North America and bring in around $30 billion of new investments into the sector.

  In addition, the trade deal was designed to open up new markets for American agricultural products like wheat, poultry and eggs.

  “We’re also going to end other unfair trade deals, and we’ll end them quickly,” added Trump.

  For example, the former president scrapped the Obama administration’s agreement to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement in January 2017.

  This deal was created to further trade ties between the U.S. and eleven other countries around the Pacific.

  The remaining countries negotiated a new trade agreement called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which incorporates most of the provisions of the TPP and entered into force in December 2018.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 18:40

• Getting Ohioans Back To Work Means Battling Obesity
  Getting Ohioans Back To Work Means Battling Obesity

  Authored by Rea S. Hederman, Jr. via RealClear Wire,

  As America teeters on the edge of recession, various factors have contributed to its broken supply chains, historic inflation, and depleted workforces. One factor that has gone largely overlooked has been a silent burden for employers and employees alike: obesity. This is one of many critical topics highlighted during Obesity Care Week.

  

  Recent national studies highlight the economic costs that obesity imposes on America’s beleaguered workforce. According to a National Institute of Health study, workers with obesity are almost twice as likely to miss work. More likely to be sick or absent from work for longer periods of time, these workers lag in work experience, which reduces their future pay. Researchers estimate that such productivity losses cost America $1.0 trillion annually.

  Similarly, workers with obesity are more likely to suffer diabetes and other debilitating diseases that increase healthcare, health insurance, and workers’ compensation costs for employers. A study by Duke Health, for example, revealed that workers with obesity filed twice as many workers’ compensation claims and that average medical claims per 100 employees were more than $50,000 for those with obesity compared to only $7,500 for those without.

  Obesity’s indirect costs are expensive, too. Adults with obesity are more likely to remain under employed or forfeit better wages. A Journal of Business and Psychology study warned that workers suffering obesity may lose more than $114,000 in earnings due to productivity losses. And adults with obesity are more likely to remain unemployed entirely, costing them a lifetime of potential income and savings.

  Ohio feels the negative side effects of obesity more acutely than most states. With one-third of its workforce fighting obesity, Ohio ranks 15th in the nation. Over the last several years, obesity-related health issues have cost the Ohio Department of Medicaid hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, a forthcoming study by The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center estimates that obesity has sidelined more than 32,000 workers — more than enough to construct and fully staff Intel’s new semiconductor plant in central Ohio. And those missing workers have deprived the state of nearly $20 million in tax revenue.  

  Other states have already taken promising steps to better help those suffering obesity. Ohio should do the same. 

  Nutrition counseling, surgery, and medication are helpful to obesity sufferers, and Ohio’s state employee health plans have adopted an “all of the above” approach to fighting obesity and getting people with the disease back into the workforce. As those efforts proceed, researchers, employers, and regulators should monitor the results — in Ohio and across the country — and enhance the most successful.

  In the meantime, Ohio should also pursue commonsense regulatory reforms to make access to obesity treatments easier and more affordable. Ohio’s nutrition licensing requirements, for example, remain some of the nation’s worst and most stringent, restricting access to diet and nutrition counseling and artificially raising prices. Relaxing those regulatory requirements will lower prices and increase access to life-changing counseling for thousands.

  Reducing obesity through prevention and better care in the workforce is a win-win-win for Ohio, employers, and employees battling obesity. Bringing obesity-sufferers back into the labor force will reduce state-funded healthcare costs, boost tax revenue, help alleviate worker shortages and supply chain woes, and provide or increase earnings for those under- or unemployed. Studying obesity prevention and treatment methods, encouraging the public and private sectors alike to implement best practices, and prudent regulatory reforms like relaxing nutrition counseling licensing requirements could help get Ohio on the road to recovery and wellness.

  Rea S. Hederman Jr. is executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 18:20

• 'Big Short' Michael Burry Predicts "Terrible Consequences" From Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness
  ‘Big Short’ Michael Burry Predicts “Terrible Consequences” From Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness

  Investor Michael Burry says “terrible consequences” are in store if student loans are forgiven.

  

  “Let’s not forget that the student debt problem is built on a foundation of terrible major choices,” Burry tweeted on Tuesday.

  “Bailing generations out of those bad choices will mean more bad choices, tuition hikes, and terrible consequences for America.”

  

  Burry’s comments come as the US Supreme Court considers Tuesday oral arguments over President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which was legally justified based on the pandemic. The program offered up to $20,000 of loan forgiveness per borrower – an initiative which has been put on hold while the high court debates the case, according to Politico.

  During more than three hours of oral argument, conservative justices on the court repeatedly questioned whether the Education Department had the legal authority it claimed to discharge federal student loan debt to help borrowers recover economically from the national emergency spurred by Covid-19.

  Chief Justice John Roberts emerged as one of the most hostile voices on the court towards the debt relief plan, repeatedly invoking its overall cost and raising questions about its fairness. -Politico

  “We’re talking about half a trillion dollars and 43 million Americans,” said Roberts early into the arguments, who also slammed the Biden administration’s claim that the debt cancellation plan wasn’t much different than existing programs that forgive student debts in specific circumstances.

  “Because there’s a provision to allow [a] waiver when your school closes…because of that Congress shouldn’t have been surprised when half a trillion dollars is wiped off the books?” asked Roberts, who added that the administration’s decision not to wait for Congress to craft debt-forgiveness legislation may have cut short debates Congress could have had over special treatment vs. people who have paid off their loans.

  “Nobody’s telling the person who was trying to set up the lawn service business that he doesn’t have to pay his loan,” said Roberts. “He still does, even though his tax dollars are going to support the forgiveness of a loan for the college graduate who’s not going to make a lot more than him over the course of his lifetime.”

  The 51-year-old Burry who rose to fame betting against the housing market before the 2008 crash took on “well into six figures of educational debt” going to UCLA and then Vanderbilt University for his medical degree. He began his residency at Stanford University, but dropped out to focus on investing.

  

  Meanwhile, Justice Samuel Alito hammered the fairness aspect as well.

  “Why is it fair? Why is it fair?….Why was it done?” Alito asked Biden administration lawyer, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.

  In all, four of the conservative justices–Roberts, Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch–seemed most skeptical of the claimed legal basis for the debt relief plan, while all three of the court’s liberals appeared inclined to reject the challenges to the program.

  The high court’s two other members–Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett–were less clear in their views. Barrett, notably, questioned some of the GOP states’ arguments that they had standing to bring the lawsuit. -Politico

  Prelogar focused her argument on how the Biden administration was acting within the law to avoid borrower distress during national emergencies, and refuted claims by the plaintiffs that they had been harmed in any way by the policy.

  When asked by Justice Clarence Thomas how “half a trillion dollars” fits uinder the “normal understanding of ‘modifying'” falls under the scope of the so-called Heroes Act, Preloger countered that the heart of the provision’s purpose was to allow the secretary to ensure that borrowers don’t suffer financially during a crisis.

  Justice Elena Kagan agreed.

  “This is an emergency provision,” she said, comparing the pandemic to an earthquake. “You don’t think Congress wanted to give … the secretary power to say, ’Oh, my gosh, people have had their homes wiped out, we’re going to discharge their student loans?'”

  As Bloomberg notes, in 1970 the average student debt was just $1,070 – which rose to $31,100 in 2021, an increase of more than 2,800%.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 18:00

• Watch: Sen. Hawley Exposes Biden Archivist Nominee With Her Own Past Partisan Tweets
  Watch: Sen. Hawley Exposes Biden Archivist Nominee With Her Own Past Partisan Tweets

  Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

  In a hearing Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley completely eviscerated Joe Biden’s National Archivist nominee by presenting her with her own past tweets which are extremely partisan.

  

  During the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Hawley exposed how Dr. Colleen Shogan routinely criticised Republican representatives and their policies, despite the fact that she had locked her Twitter account as soon as she was nominated for the supposedly non-partisan role heading up the National Archives and Records Administration.

  As Hawley presented each of her past statements, Shogan refused to comment, prompting the Senator to accuse her of stonewalling.

  Hawley noted that in February of 2022 Shogan tweeted complaining about mask mandates being lifted.

  “I asked you to provide the public posts that had previously been available on Twitter because the ones that we have were pretty disturbing,” Hawley noted, adding “You responded as follows, and I quote, ‘My personal Twitter account is comprised of posts about my mystery novels, events at the White House Historical Association, Pittsburgh sports teams, travels and my dog.’ Is this an accurate statement?”

  “My social media is in my personal capacity,” Shogan responded.

  Hawley shot back, “Answer my question, please, because you’ve testified under oath that you only posted about your dog, and sports teams and novels, and you also said you wouldn’t give this committee any of your public posts.”

  Shogan still refused to answer, prompting Hawley to remind her “You are under oath before this committee, and I have to say, you have placed this issue squarely in record by repeatedly refusing to answer.”

  The deluge continued for over 7 straight minutes, as Hawley presented anti-Trump tweets, anti-second amendment tweets and anti-religion tweets, proving once again that the Biden administration is only interested in filling the government with people who will follow its agenda in lockstep.

  Hawley noted “I have never seen a witness stonewall like this before. Never. And I’ve seen a lot. This is extraordinary. … I mean, this is unbelievable, and you want to be the archivist of the United States. You lied to us under oath, you lied to us in your [Questions for the Record], you just lied to me a second ago under oath, and now you’re sitting here stonewalling, not answering questions about public posts that you’ve made.”

  The Senator continued, “I have never seen a witness blatantly lie under oath like Dr. Shogan has just done to this committee, stonewalled this committee, and just repeatedly refused to answer my questions about her own posts that are in public.”

  “For these reasons, I will oppose your nomination and I strongly, strongly urge this committee to take action on this and force this witness to own up to the fact that she is misleading us right now before our eyes,” Hawley asserted.

  Watch:

  Despite all of this, Shogan will likely be confirmed, given the Democratic majority in the Senate. 

  Elsewhere during the hearing, Senator Rand Paul noted that last month the National Archives had forced visiting students, in Washington for the March for Life, to remove clothing with pro-life messages on it.

  “It’s hard to imagine a more offensive way to violate their freedom of speech,” Paul noted, adding “Nothing like this can ever happen again. We must understand who ordered it.”

  Paul also further told the nominee, “The difference in how Archives appear to have handled disputes over documents held by former President Trump and Vice President Pence, and President Biden on the other hand, raised questions about the impartiality of the agency.”

  “Specifically, the agency seems to have aggressively publicized the search for documents at President Trump and Vice President Pence’s residences, but tried to keep quiet about the documents President Biden kept at, at least three locations,” Paul added.

  *  *  *

  Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

  In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 17:40

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• Escobar: The Stage Is Set For Hybrid World War III
  Escobar: The Stage Is Set For Hybrid World War III

  Authored by Pepe Escobar,

  A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you’re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by selected stops and enlightening conversations, crystallizing disparate vectors one year after the start of the accelerated phase of the proxy war between US/NATO and Russia.

  That’s how Moscow welcomes you: the undisputed capital of the 21st century multipolar world.

  A long, walking meditation impregnates on us how President Putin’s address – rather, a civilizational speech – last week was a game-changer when it comes to the demarcation of the civilizational red lines we are all now facing.

  

  It acted like a powerful drill perforating the less than short, actually zero term memory of the Collective West. No wonder it exercised a somewhat sobering effect contrasting the non-stop Russophobia binge of the NATOstan space.

  Alexey Dobrinin, Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia, has correctly described Putin’s address as “a methodological basis for understanding, describing and constructing multipolarity.”

  For years some of us have been showing how the emerging multipolar world is defined – but goes way beyond – high speed interconnectivity, physical and geoeconomic. Now, as we reach the next stage, it’s as if Putin and Xi Jinping, each in their own way, are conceptualizing the two key civilizational vectors of multipolarity. That’s the deeper meaning of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership, invisible to the naked eye.

  Metaphorically, it also speaks volumes that Russia’s pivot to the East, towards the rising sun, now irreversible, was the only logical path to follow as, to quote Dylan, darkness dawns at the break of noon across the West.

  As it stands, with the wobblin’, ragin’ Hegemon lost in its own pre-fabricated daze, the real runners of the show feeding burning flesh to irredeemably mediocre political “elites”, China may have a little more latitude than Russia, as the Middle Kingdom is not – yet – under the same existential pressure Russia has been put under.

  Whatever happens next geopolitically, Russia is at heart a – giant – obstacle on the warmongering path of the Hegemon: the ultimate target is top “threat” China.

  Putin’s ability to size up our extremely delicate geopolitical moment – via a dose of highly concentrated, undiluted realism – is something to behold. And then Foreign Minister Lavrov provided the sweet cherry on top, calling the hapless US ambassador for a hardcore dress down: oh yeah, this is war, hybrid and otherwise, and your NATO mercenaries as well as your junk hardware are legitimate targets.

  Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council, now more than ever relishing his “unplugged” status, made it all very clear: “Russia risks being torn apart if it stops a special military operation (SMO) before victory is achieved.”

  And the message is even more acute because it represents the – public – cue to the Chinese leadership at the Zhongnahhai to understand: whatever happens next, this is the Kremlin’s unmovable official position.

  The Chinese restore the Mandate of Heaven

  All these vectors are evolving as ramifications of the bombing of the Nord Streams, the only military attack – cum industrial terrorism – ever perpetrated against the EU, leave the Collective West paralyzed, dazed and confused.

  Perfectly in tandem with Putin’s address, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose the geopolitical/existential moment to finally take the gloves off, with a flourish: enter the US Hegemony and its Perils essay cum report, which became an instant massive hit across Chinese media, examined with relish all across East Asia.

  This blistering enumeration of all the Hegemon’s lethal follies, for decades, constitutes a point of no return for trademark Chinese diplomacy, so far characterized by passivity, ambivalence, actual restraint and extreme politeness. So such turnaround is yet another proud “achievement” of the outright Sinophobia and mendacious hostility exhibited by American neocons and neoliberal-cons.

  Scholar Quan Le notes that this document may be regarded as the traditional form – but now filled with contemporary wording – the Chinese Sovereigns used in their millenary past before going to war.

  It is in fact an axio-epistemo-political proclamation justifying a serious war, which in the Chinese universe means a war ordained by a Higher Power capable of restoring Justice & Harmony in a troubled Universe.

  After the proclamation the warriors are equipped to strike mercilessly at the entity judged to be troubling the Harmony of the Universe: in our case, the psycho Straussian neo-cons and neoliberal-cons commanded as rabid dogs by the real American elites.

  Of course in the Chinese universe there’s no place for “God” – much less a Christian version; “God” for the Chinese means the Beauty-Goodness-Truth trinity, Timeless Heavenly Universal Principles. The closest concept for a non-Chinese to understand is Dao: the Way. So the Way to the Beauty-Goodness-Truth trinity represents symbolically Beauty-Goodness-Truth.

  So what Beijing did – and the Collective West is completely clueless about it – was to issue an axio-epistemo-political proclamation explaining the legitimacy of their quest to restore Timeless Heavenly Universal Principles. They will be fulfilling the Mandate of Heaven – nothing less. The West won’t know what it hit them until it’s too late.

  It was predictable that sooner or later the heirs of Chinese civilization would have had enough – and formally identify, mirroring Putin’s analysis, the upstart Hegemon as the premier source of chaos, inequality and war across the planet. Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder, in a nutshell.

  To put it bluntly, in streetwise language, the hell with this Americana crap of hegemony being justified by “manifest destiny”.

  So here we are. You want Hybrid War? We will return the favor.

  Back to the Wolfowitz Doctrine

  A former CIA advisor has issued a quite sobering report on a pebble along the rocky way: a possible endgame in Ukraine, now that even some elite-run parrots are contemplating a “way out” with minimal loss of face.

  It’s never idle to remember that way back in 2000, the year Vladimir Putin was first elected as President, in the pre-9/11 world, rabid neocon Paul Wolfowitz was side by side with Zbig “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski in a huge Ukraine-US symposium in Washington, where he unabashedly raved about provoking Russia to go to war with Ukraine, and committed to finance the destruction of Russia.

  Everyone remembers the Wolfowitz doctrine – which was essentially a tawdry, pedestrian rehash of Brzezinski: to keep permanent US hegemony it was primordial to pre-empt the emergence of any potential competitor.

  Now we have two nuclear-powered, tech savvy peer competitors united by a comprehensive strategic partnership.

  As I finished my long walk paying due respect by the Kremlin to the heroes of 1941-1945, the feeling was inescapable that as much as Russia is a master of riddles and China is a master of paradox, their strategists are now working full time on how to return all strands of Hybrid War against the Hegemon. One thing is certain: unlike boastful Americans, they won’t outline any breakthroughs until they are already in effect.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 03/01/2023 – 00:05

• China Scrambles To Save Plummeting Birth Rate With Pregnancy Perks
  China Scrambles To Save Plummeting Birth Rate With Pregnancy Perks

  Last month Chinese officials announced that 2022 marked the first drop in total population in six decades, after 9.56 million people were born vs. 10.41 million who died.

  

  Now, the country faces a population decline combined with a long-running rise in life expectancy, which could result in a wide-ranging demographic crisis for the world’s second-largest economy.

  In order to counter the plummeting fertility rate, Chinese officials have loosened the country’s one-child policy, and offered incentives for families to reproduce – but nothing has worked.

  

  Some provinces are trying to go further – including one which now encourages people to have as many babies as they want, even if they are unmarried. In most parts of the country, single mothers are denied government benefits often offered to married couples.

  In the tech hub city of Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, the government is now giving parents of a third child 20,000 yuan, or $2,900 as a one-off subsidy. A second child will net parents around $720.

  In South China, the city of Wenzhou is planning to offer new parents around $400 in subsidies per child, while the northeastern city of Shenyang is offering up to $72 per month until a child is three years old.

  In Shanghai and Shanxi, officials have increased the number of paid marriage leave days – time off granted to couples if they get married – from three days to up to 30 days, according to the People’s Daily Health.

  

  The problem, however, is that many young Chinese adults don’t want large families, and are pushing back on all sorts of incentives to reproduce in one of the most expensive countries in the world to raise a child, the NY Times reports, noting that “such incentives do little to address anxieties about supporting their aging parents and managing the rising costs of education, housing and health care.”

  “The fundamental problem is not that people cannot have children, but that they cannot afford it,” said 26-year-old Sichuan nurse, Lu Yi, adding that she would need to earn at least double her currently monthly salary of around $1,200 (8,000 yuan) to even consider children.

  Many countries around the world — from Japan to Russia to Sweden — have confronted the same demographic challenge, and their attempts to incentivize new babies with subsidies and other tactics have had a limited impact. But China has aged faster than other countries. The often harshly enforced one-child policy, which was aimed at slowing population growth, precipitated the steep decline in births and led to a generational shift in attitudes around family sizes.

  Efforts by the ruling Communist Party to raise fertility rates — by permitting all couples to have two children in 2016, then three in 2021 — have struggled to gain traction. The new policy in Sichuan drew widespread attention because it essentially disregards birth limits altogether, showing how the demographic crisis is nudging the party to slowly relinquish its iron grip over the reproductive rights of its citizens. –NY Times

  “The two-child policy failed. The three-child policy failed,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher, Yi Fuxian, who studies Chinese population trends. “This is the natural next step.”

  Beijing, we have a problem…

  In a 2022 survey of around 20,000 younger Chinese people between the ages of 18 to 25, two-thirds said they don’t want children – with demographers suggesting that the pressures and costs associated with the Chinese education system is a major factor. They have suggested things such as shortening schooling by two years, and getting rid of the competitive exam to enter high school.

  Meanwhile, with women pressured to step into careers instead of marriage, getting Chinese millennials to overcome issues such as costs might only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the current challenge.

  “You need to go back to the things that have made marriage rates so low,” Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten, who specializes in population policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told Insider last year.

  “If women are feeling: ‘This is such a bad move for my career or my life that I’m going to push it back as long as possible,’ then maybe that’s a symptom of other challenges, blockages, or malfunctions in society

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 23:45

• JFK's Remarkable Peace Speech That Sealed His Fate
  JFK’s Remarkable Peace Speech That Sealed His Fate

  Authored by Jacob Hornberger via The Future of Freedom Foundation,

  The deep animosity against Russia and China that the U.S. national-security establishment has inculcated in the American people brings to mind the remarkable speech that President Kennedy delivered on June 10, 1963, at American University that sealed his fate.

  

  Just imagine what would happen to any American who today dares to say good things about Russia and China. The Russia haters and the China haters will heap condemnation and calumny on them. The haters will accuse them of being “Putin lovers” who support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the case of China, they will accuse them of being communist sympathizers who support China’s military expansionism. 

  No, there is no room in America for positive sentiments toward Russia and China. Through the power of indoctrination, the Pentagon and the CIA have succeeded in inculcating a mindset of deep hostility all across America toward both Russia and China.

  Of course, they did the same thing back in the Cold War era, perhaps even more so given that, during that time, both Russia and China were communist regimes. Throughout the Cold War decades, Americans were indoctrinated in the same way that Americans today are indoctrinated. They were taught to hate and fear the Russian Reds and the Chinese Reds and, for that matter, the North Korean Reds, the Cuban Reds, the Vietnamese Reds, the Chilean Reds, the Guatemalan Reds, and, well, all the Reds in the world, including those who were inside the United States. 

  Among the people Americans were expected to hate was Martin Luther King, not only because he was believed to be a Red but also because he had the audacity to point out that the U.S. government had become the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. They hated him for that, just as they hated Mohammad Ali, who dared to question their war against the Reds in Vietnam. That’s why they targeted both men for destruction. 

  In the midst of all this anti-Russia and anti-China hostility stepped President John F. Kennedy. He had had enough of all this hostility.

  He recognized it as a destructive and highly dangerous mindset that the Pentagon and the CIA had inculcated in the American people. 

  Kennedy realized that it was that mindset that had brought the world to the brink of all-out, life-destroying nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also came to the realization that if the Pentagon and the CIA had not been hell-bent on illegally invading Cuba, there would never have been a Cuban Missile Crisis. 

  Keep some important things in mind.

  At the time that Kennedy was delivering his Peace Speech, the Soviet Union (of which Russia was the principal member) was still occupying and controlling Eastern Europe. It was also still occupying and controlling West Germany. It was still maintaining and enforcing the Berlin Wall. China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and Cuba were still communist regimes. 

  

  Kennedy delivering his Peace Speech. Licensed under Creative Commons.

  Kennedy shows up at American University and initiates a surprise attack on the Pentagon and the CIA.

  He declared an end to the deep anti-Soviet hostility that the Pentagon and the CIA had inculcated in the American people.

  He called for peaceful and friendly coexistence with the Soviet Union and the rest of the communist world. With a slap across the faces of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he declared, “What kind of a peace do I mean? What kind of a peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war.”

  Kennedy’s entire speech is worth reading, but here are some more excerpts:

  First, examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it is unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade. Therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable and we believe they can do it again.

  ***

  No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage.

  ***

  And no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union in the Second World War. At least 20 million lost their lives. Countless millions of homes and families were burned or sacked. A third of the nation’s territory, including nearly two-thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland, a loss equivalent to the destruction of this country east of Chicago.

  ***

  So, let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.

  The very next evening — June 11, 1963 — Kennedy went on national television to express support for the supposed communist Martin Luther King and the American civil-rights movement, which the national-security establishment, especially the FBI, was convinced was a  communist front for a Red takeover of the United States.

  The president had just thrown down a doubly dangerous gauntlet before the U.S. national-security establishment.

  As I point out in my book An Encounter with Evil: The Abraham Zapruder Story, Kennedy’s Peace Speech, combined with his resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which enraged the Pentagon and the CIA, combined with his support of what was believed to be a domestic communist front, sealed his fate.

  Several months later, they took him out, on the grounds of protecting “national security,” just as they targeted foreign leaders on the same basis. 

  No one in America — and especially not a U.S. president — is permitted to embrace what are considered to be heretical thoughts and policies regarding Russia and China.

  The deep anti-Russia and anti-China hostility that the Pentagon and the CIA inculcate in the American people has become a permanent part of American life.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 23:25

• Who Wants To Be A Centi-Millionaire? Attend These 8 College To Improve Chances
  Who Wants To Be A Centi-Millionaire? Attend These 8 College To Improve Chances

  A new wealth report by consultancy firm “Henley & Partners” found more than a third of US centi-millionaires graduated from eight universities. 

  The report found 9,630 centi-millionaires living in the US as of December. Of that, 35% of them graduated from just eight schools:

  • Harvard

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Stanford

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • Columbia,

  • Yale,

  • Cornell, and

  • Princeton.

  

  “Nonetheless, a premium education undeniably improves the chances of achieving success, influence, and wealth,” Henley & Partners said. 

  The report noted an exception: 

  “Education is not the only route to phenomenal financial success though, with two notable examples being Bill Gates, who left Harvard to start Microsoft, and Mark Zuckerberg, a fellow Harvard drop-out and the poster boy of Facebook, now Meta, both of whom went on to become billionaires.” 

  And for those aspiring to become a centi-millionaire one day, choosing the right industry is important. The report found the top industries in which centi-millionaires have acquired their wealth:  

  • Financial and professional services

  • Technology 

  • Real Estate

  • Media and entertainment 

  • Energy and basic materials 

  • Retail

  • Healthcare 

  • Hotel and leisure 

  • Manufacturing

  • Transport 

  

  Unsurprisingly, a handful of Ivy League universities have a monopoly on churning out centi-millionaires. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 23:05

• A Nanny State Idiocracy: When The Government Thinks It Knows Best
  A Nanny State Idiocracy: When The Government Thinks It Knows Best

  Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatus—the bureaucracy, the police, the military.”

  – Simone Weil, French philosopher

  It’s hard to say whether we’re dealing with a kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves), a kakistocracy (a government run by unprincipled career politicians, corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens), or if we’ve gone straight to an idiocracy. 

  For instance, an animal welfare bill introduced in the Florida state legislature would ban the sale of rabbits in March and April, prohibit cat owners from declawing their pets, make it illegal for dogs to stick their heads out of car windows, force owners to place dogs in a harness or in a pet seatbelt when traveling in a car, and require police to create a public list of convicted animal abusers.

  A Massachusetts law prohibits drivers from letting their cars idle for more than five minutes on penalty of a $100 fine ($500 for repeat offenders), even in the winter. You can also be fined $20 or a month in jail for scaring pigeons.

  This overbearing Nanny State despotism is what happens when government representatives (those elected and appointed to work for us) adopt the authoritarian notion that the government knows best and therefore must control, regulate and dictate almost everything about the citizenry’s public, private and professional lives.

  

  The government’s bureaucratic attempts at muscle-flexing by way of overregulation and overcriminalization have reached such outrageous limits that federal and state governments now require on penalty of a fine that individuals apply for permission before they can grow exotic orchids, host elaborate dinner parties, gather friends in one’s home for Bible studies, give coffee to the homeless, let their kids manage a lemonade stand, keep chickens as pets, or braid someone’s hair, as ludicrous as that may seem.

  Consider, for example, that businesses in California were ordered to designate an area of the children’s toy aisle “gender-neutral” or face a fine, whether or not the toys sold are traditionally marketed to girls or boys such as Barbies and Hot Wheels. California schools are prohibited from allowing students to access websites, novels or religious works that reflect negatively on gays. And while Californians are free to have sex with whomever they choose (because that’s none of the government’s business), removing a condom during sex without consent could make you liable for general, special and punitive damages.

  It’s getting worse.

  Almost every aspect of American life today—especially if it is work-related—is subject to this kind of heightened scrutiny and ham-fisted control, whether you’re talking about aspiring “bakers, braiders, casket makers, florists, veterinary masseuses, tour guides, taxi drivers, eyebrow threaders, teeth whiteners, and more.”

  For instance, whereas 70 years ago, one out of every 20 U.S. jobs required a state license, today, almost 1 in 3 American occupations requires a license.

  The problem of overregulation has become so bad that, as one analyst notes, “getting a license to style hair in Washington takes more instructional time than becoming an emergency medical technician or a firefighter.”

  This is what happens when bureaucrats run the show, and the rule of law becomes little more than a cattle prod for forcing the citizenry to march in lockstep with the government.

  Overregulation is just the other side of the coin to overcriminalization, that phenomenon in which everything is rendered illegal and everyone becomes a lawbreaker.

  As policy analyst Michael Van Beek warns, the problem with overcriminalization is that there are so many laws at the federal, state and local levels—that we can’t possibly know them all.

  “It’s also impossible to enforce all these laws. Instead, law enforcement officials must choose which ones are important and which are not. The result is that they pick the laws Americans really must follow, because they’re the ones deciding which laws really matter,” concludes Van Beek. “Federal, state and local regulations — rules created by unelected government bureaucrats — carry the same force of law and can turn you into a criminal if you violate any one of them… if we violate these rules, we could be prosecuted as criminals. No matter how antiquated or ridiculous, they still carry the full force of the law. By letting so many of these sit around, just waiting to be used against us, we increase the power of law enforcement, which has lots of options to charge people with legal and regulatory violations.”

  This is the police state’s superpower: it has been vested with the authority to make our lives a bureaucratic hell.

  That explains how a fisherman can be saddled with 20 years’ jail time for throwing fish that were too small back into the water. Or why police arrested a 90-year-old man for violating an ordinance that prohibits feeding the homeless in public unless portable toilets are also made available.

  The laws can get downright silly. For instance, you could also find yourself passing time in a Florida slammer for such inane activities as singing in a public place while wearing a swimsuit, breaking more than three dishes per day, farting in a public place after 6 pm on a Thursday, and skateboarding without a license.

  However, the consequences are all too serious for those whose lives become grist for the police state’s mill. A few years back, police raided barber shops in minority communities, resulting in barbers being handcuffed in front of customers, and their shops searched without warrants. All of this was purportedly done in an effort to make sure that the barbers’ licensing paperwork was up to snuff.

  In this way, America has gone from being a beacon of freedom to a locked down nation. And “we the people,” sold on the idea that safety, security and material comforts are preferable to freedom, have allowed the government to pave over the Constitution in order to erect a concentration camp.

  We labor today under the weight of countless tyrannies, large and small, carried out in the so-called name of the national good by an elite class of governmental and corporate officials who are largely insulated from the ill effects of their actions.

  We increasingly find ourselves badgered, bullied and browbeaten into bearing the brunt of their arrogance, paying the price for their greed, suffering the backlash for their militarism, agonizing as a result of their inaction, feigning ignorance about their backroom dealings, overlooking their incompetence, turning a blind eye to their misdeeds, cowering from their heavy-handed tactics, and blindly hoping for change that never comes. 

  The overt signs of the despotism exercised by the increasingly authoritarian regime that passes itself off as the United States government (and its corporate partners in crime) are all around us: censorship, criminalizing, shadow banning and de-platforming of individuals who express ideas that are politically incorrect or unpopular; warrantless surveillance of Americans’ movements and communications; SWAT team raids of Americans’ homes; shootings of unarmed citizens by police; harsh punishments meted out to schoolchildren in the name of zero tolerance; community-wide lockdowns and health mandates that strip Americans of their freedom of movement and bodily integrity; armed drones taking to the skies domestically; endless wars; out-of-control spending; militarized police; roadside strip searches; privatized prisons with a profit incentive for jailing Americans; fusion centers that spy on, collect and disseminate data on Americans’ private transactions; and militarized agencies with stockpiles of ammunition, to name some of the most appalling.

  Yet as egregious as these incursions on our rights may be, it’s the endless, petty tyrannies—the heavy-handed, punitive-laden dictates inflicted by a self-righteous, Big-Brother-Knows-Best bureaucracy on an overtaxed, overregulated, and underrepresented populace—that illustrate so clearly the degree to which “we the people” are viewed as incapable of common sense, moral judgment, fairness, and intelligence, not to mention lacking a basic understanding of how to stay alive, raise a family, or be part of a functioning community.

  In exchange for the promise of an end to global pandemics, lower taxes, lower crime rates, safe streets, safe schools, blight-free neighborhoods, and readily accessible technology, health care, water, food and power, we’ve opened the door to lockdowns, militarized police, government surveillance, asset forfeiture, school zero tolerance policies, license plate readers, red light cameras, SWAT team raids, health care mandates, overcriminalization, overregulation and government corruption.

  In the end, such bargains always turn sour.

  We relied on the government to help us safely navigate national emergencies (terrorism, natural disasters, global pandemics, etc.) only to find ourselves forced to relinquish our freedoms on the altar of national security, yet we’re no safer (or healthier) than before.

  We asked our lawmakers to be tough on crime, and we’ve been saddled with an abundance of laws that criminalize almost every aspect of our lives. So far, we’re up to 4500 criminal laws and 300,000 criminal regulations that result in average Americans unknowingly engaging in criminal acts at least three times a day. For instance, the family of an 11-year-old girl was issued a $535 fine for violating the Federal Migratory Bird Act after the young girl rescued a baby woodpecker from predatory cats.

  We wanted criminals taken off the streets, and we didn’t want to have to pay for their incarceration. What we’ve gotten is a nation that boasts the highest incarceration rate in the world, with more than 2.3 million people locked up, many of them doing time for relatively minor, nonviolent crimes, and a private prison industry fueling the drive for more inmates, who are forced to provide corporations with cheap labor.

  A special report by CNBC breaks down the national numbers:

  One out of 100 American adults is behind bars — while a stunning one out of 32 is on probation, parole or in prison. This reliance on mass incarceration has created a thriving prison economy. The states and the federal government spend about $74 billion a year on corrections, and nearly 800,000 people work in the industry.

  We wanted law enforcement agencies to have the necessary resources to fight the nation’s wars on terror, crime and drugs. What we got instead were militarized police decked out with M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers, battle tanks and hollow point bullets—gear designed for the battlefield, more than 80,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year (many for routine police tasks, resulting in losses of life and property), and profit-driven schemes that add to the government’s largesse such as asset forfeiture, where police seize property from “suspected criminals.”

  According to the Washington Post, these funds have been used to buy guns, armored cars, electronic surveillance gear, “luxury vehicles, travel and a clown named Sparkles.” Police seminars advise officers to use their “department wish list when deciding which assets to seize” and, in particular, go after flat screen TVs, cash and nice cars.

  In Florida, where police are no strangers to asset forfeiture, Florida police have been carrying out “reverse” sting operations, where they pose as drug dealers to lure buyers with promises of cheap cocaine, then bust them, and seize their cash and cars. Over the course of a year, police in one small Florida town seized close to $6 million using these entrapment schemes.

  We fell for the government’s promise of safer roads, only to find ourselves caught in a tangle of profit-driven red light cameras, which ticket unsuspecting drivers in the so-called name of road safety while ostensibly fattening the coffers of local and state governments. Despite widespread public opposition, corruption and systemic malfunctions, these cameras—used in 24 states and Washington, DC—are particularly popular with municipalities, which look to them as an easy means of extra cash.

  One small Florida town, population 8,000, generates a million dollars a year in fines from these cameras. Building on the profit-incentive schemes, the cameras’ manufacturers are also pushing speed cameras and school bus cameras, both of which result in heft fines for violators who speed or try to go around school buses.

  As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is what happens when the American people get duped, deceived, double-crossed, cheated, lied to, swindled and conned into believing that the government and its army of bureaucrats—the people we appointed to safeguard our freedoms—actually have our best interests at heart.

  The problem with these devil’s bargains is that there is always a catch, always a price to pay for whatever it is we valued so highly as to barter away our most precious possessions.

  We’ve bartered away our right to self-governance, self-defense, privacy, autonomy and that most important right of all: the right to tell the government to “leave me the hell alone.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 22:45

• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Loses Re-Election, Comes In Third-Place
  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Loses Re-Election, Comes In Third-Place

  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot – who claimed last year to have the biggest dick in the city, lost her bid for re-election Tuesday after failing to advance to a runoff in the Chicago mayoral race, according to AP.

  The loss makes her the first Chicago mayor to lose re-election since 1983.

  

  Lightfoot finished third with 16.4% of the vote, while former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas finished at 35.02%, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson at 20.25%. The two will now advance to the April 4 runoff as the two candidates who got the most votes.

  “Obviously, we didn’t win the election. But, I stand here with my head held high and my heart full of thanks,” Lightfoot told supporters right before 9 p.m., the Chicago Sun Times reports.

  “You will not be defined by how you fall. You will be defined by how hard you work and how much you do for other people.”

  Or, in Lightfoot’s case, she will be defined by the following:

  • “F**k Clarence Thomas!” Shouts Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot During Pride Parade
  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Granting Interviews “Only To Black Or Brown Journalists”
  • Did Chicago Punish Car Dealership Rocked By $1 Million Theft After Lightfoot Called Owner An “Idiot”?
  • Chicago’s Ex-City Attorney Brands Mayor Lori Lightfoot A ‘Disaster’ After $2.9 Million Settlement Over Botched Police Raid
  • Chicago Homicide Crisis Worsens As Mayor Lightfoot Fails To Quell Violence
  • Illinois Sheriffs Reject Mayor Lightfoot’s Urgent Plea To Cover Police Shortage In Crime-Hit Chicago

  “I haven’t been this happy since my son returned from Afghanistan,” said Vallas, adding “We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America.”

  

  Johnson, meanwhile, “appears to have claimed a large share of undecided African-American voters who were “searching” for an alternative to Lightfoot,” according to the Sun Times.

  

  What’s next for Lightfoot?

  

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 22:30

• Parking Lot Of Container Ships Idle Off China On Recovery Bet
  Parking Lot Of Container Ships Idle Off China On Recovery Bet

  The global economy is proving resilient in the first two months of 2023. Supply chain snarls are easing, while demand conditions are neither hot nor cold. The post–Covid-19 recovery is on shaky ground as the world awaits a China recovery. 

  Bloomberg pointed out that “a large number” of container ships are “positioned near China, waiting for a renewed flow of exports as the world’s second-largest economy recovers from Covid Zero restrictions.” 

  “It makes sense to be close to the main export centers, to be in a ready-to-go position,” Simon Heaney, senior manager of container research at maritime consultant Drewry, said. 

  Drewry data shows unused vessel capacity began inching up in the second half of 2022 and has since hit the highest level since late 2020. 

  

  A slowdown in shipping comes as major central banks sent interest rates sky-high to tackle out-of-control inflation. This has led to falling global demand for goods and services. 

  Spot container freight rates have crashed in the last year. 

  

  Many investors have bet on a Chinese recovery since Beijing disbanded Covid restrictions late last year. But on Tuesday, the Chinese Communist Party warned the foundation of economic recovery is not yet solid, according to Reuters. 

  After a three-day meeting, a communique released by the Communist Party’s Central Committee said the economy still faces triple pressures, including demand contraction, supply shock, and sliding expectations. 

  FreightWaves pointed out last week, “an unprecedented flood of new container ships is about to enter service.” This would further increase unused vessel capacity as a welcoming sign of lower container rates. 

  One thing is clear: The world has entered a period of immense economic uncertainty with no definitive timeline for a robust China recovery. Plus, ultra-hawkish central banks worldwide are dampening demand. 

  Frank Andersen, head of Asia at maritime data provider Shipfix, believes a rebound in vessel use is coming, though “these will slowly get activated, although we could see that taking a few more months.” 

  Perhaps the China recovery everyone has been expecting won’t be as strong as initially thought. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 22:25

• Hypocrisy Unlimited: Hollywood’s Secret Counterfeit Vaccine Network
  Hypocrisy Unlimited: Hollywood’s Secret Counterfeit Vaccine Network

  Authored by Roger L. Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Last week, I had a remarkable phone call with a man or a woman—I am equivocating to protect the identity, though I assure you he or she was one or the other, not in the least transgendered—from my former home in the Los Angeles area, regarding Hollywood and COVID-19 or, as it is known hereabouts, the CCP virus.

  

  Ironically, this was exactly one week before the deadline for Oscar voting. Although no longer working in the industry, I have been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since the mid-’80s, but never have I received so many emails, texts, and phone calls reminding me to vote.

  This tells me that other members may be as bored with the process as I am. Who wants to vote in the event, let alone watch it?

  Besides being reactionary in its obsession with race and sexual identity, “Woke” Hollywood just isn’t fun (or entertaining) anymore.

  Even less fun for all of us was COVID-19, but for Hollywood, it was especially inconvenient because of the stringent California laws that the studios took to with alacrity. You had no career without mRNA certification. You were supposed to be vaccinated just to get on the studio lot.

  The phone call I mentioned above was with a person who works in the entertainment industry and said he or she obtained—through connections—vaccination record cards for use by major Hollywood celebrities and others.

  These aren’t counterfeits, but actual cards purloined from a hospital pharmacy where the vaccines were sold and included batch numbers but without names attached. In essence, they were contraband.

  The person claims to have been inspired to do something for people in the face of forced vaccination after news emerged the virus might have been the result of a lab leak in Wuhan, China, and that the government had been lying about the pandemic in general.

  My interlocutor says he or she began selling the cards in early April 2021. Between then and early October of that year, calls were apparently coming in every day for contraband cards.

  The individual estimates that he or she sold at least 250 of the cards during that period. When asked whether he or she was afraid of the Justice Department and IRS because of this, the answer was affirmative.

  The celebrities for whom this person made these counterfeits were almost uniformly liberals or progressives, at least publicly. In other words, if you asked them, they supported mandates, masks, and so forth, sometimes adamantly. Behind the scenes was another matter.

  The stories this person told me were amusing, nauseating, and, in some sense, edifying all at once. We have long known that Hollywood types are some of the most hypocritical people on the planet—living large while endlessly lecturing the little folk on climate and the rest—but this may take the proverbial cake.

  Many of the clients of this person, I was told, were well aware of details of the growing concerns about potential side effects of the vaccines—particularly in the reproductive area. Not surprisingly then, the person estimated 90 percent of the clients were female.

  The general state of these people was described as fear and paranoia, reminiscent of the 1980 Lichtenstein-like cartoon in the LA Weekly that showed an anguished female studio executive intoning, “NUCLEAR WAR? There goes my career!”

  It didn’t always go well.

  One of my informant’s clients—a well-known entertainer whose name I was assured I would know—was allegedly upset that a favorite local sports team was demanding proof of vaccination for entry, even at the VIP entrance.

  So this person apparently panicked when offered a card by my interlocutor. It was said there would be ushers at all entrances with iPads, checking the cards against the California state database.

  My informant replied the database was hodgepodge—apparently, 30 percent of vaccinations were never recorded—and that the celeb should just insist the card was valid, loudly, if necessary, and all would be well. The entertainer apparently replied that was fine for the man and woman on the street, but if the celeb made a fuss, it would be on TMZ before morning, a career-ender like the 1980s cartoon.

  The celeb ended up giving the VIP tickets, sans card, to the entertainer’s manager, only to find out later that no one was at the door checking anything.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 22:05

• 7.2 Percent Of US Adults Identify As LGBT
  7.2 Percent Of US Adults Identify As LGBT

  A total of 7.2 percent of U.S. adults identified as LGBT in 2022, a new record high.

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz notes, Gen Z, newly added in the Gallup survey‘s 2020 edition, is the gayest generation in terms of self-identification.

  Almost 20 percent of those born between 1997 and 2004 identified as LGBT, compared with around 11 percent of Millennials.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  While scientists believe that the share of LGBT individuals has not actually changed over time, younger people in the U.S. are more likely to be openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual.

  Even within the generation of Millennials, defined as those born between 1981 and 1996, self-identification quotas rose in the past years. In 2014, only 6.3 percent of Millennials had said they identified as LGBT.

  For older generations, levels of self-identification did not change majorly in the past decade.

  The Gallup survey question did not ask respondents to identify as other sexes, sexual identities or sexual orientations like intersex, asexual or queer.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 21:45

• Who Do We Target Now In The Inflation Blame Game?
  Who Do We Target Now In The Inflation Blame Game?

  Authored by Graham Young via The Epoch Times,

  Inflation is rising everywhere, which does not mean it’s not a problem for politicians in Australia, just that they are a subset of politicians everywhere.

  So we are seeing a global hunt for alibis and scapegoats.

  In Australia,  the federal government and the union movement have chosen business—in particular mining and food—as their fall guy.

  

  There are a bunch of reasons why inflation is up.

  One is that demand is stronger than normal, but the supply of goods hasn’t kept up due to logistical problems left-over from COVID and normal resource scarcity.

  The reason demand has exploded is that money that couldn’t be spent for two years is being spent quickly and immediately. This is being funded by savings that accrued while most of us had our “gap year” for COVID and couldn’t travel or go out.

  No blame accrues there, apart from the fact they collectively shut us down when the pandemic handbook said that was the last thing you should do.

  Blame does accrue to governments who have also fuelled demand by loose monetary policy in the first place, and debt-fuelled expenditures in the second. They are adding record public spending to private spending.

  In the U.S. the spending is in packages such as the so-called “Build Back Better” and “Inflation Reduction” Acts.

  In Australia, we have various programs initiated by the government for energy transition, aged care, and childcare.

  Another reason is that the price of energy has skyrocketed. This is partly a result of the war in Ukraine, but the stats show prices rising well before then.

  This inflation is due to the energy transition, and it will intensify the further we transit into it. While politicians tout wind and solar as “clean, green, and cheap,” they are certainly not cheap, as evident by the rising cost of carbon credits.

  This is an outcome of government choice.

  Bigger Government, Designating Villain Status to Capitalism

  Another driver in Australia that will become more apparent as time goes by is government-driven labour market changes which will make wages artificially higher while decreasing the flexibility of the economy.

  Changes like the recent re-introduction of pattern-bargaining, centralised wage fixing, national industry awards, clamping down on the “gig economy,” increasing unionisation, and freeing the CFMEU (the union involved in all infrastructure work) from the oversight of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

  Inflation has been bubbling away under the surface as variants of Modern Monetary Theory—the idea that governments could borrow and spend what they pleased without risking inflation—leading to insanely low-interest rates and over-extended national “credit cards.”

  These inflationary pressures manifested first in rising stock market valuations and then in elevated house prices. Now, they are hitting the hip pocket.

  None of this is to the credit of any government, so who to blame if you are intent on re-election?

  If your constituency is notionally labour, this is a very easy choice, it must be the capitalists.

  And so the intellectual establishments of the Australian left, like The Australia Institute and the ABC, are hard at work fabricating a case for inflation being caused by “profiteering” and “price gouging” by corporate Australia, particularly the energy and mining sector and food.

  They also point to an increase in capital profits versus labour as a share of the economy.

  Except the facts don’t bear them out.

  Energy and mining companies are price takers, with the price of their commodities swinging wildly in tune with small fluctuations in demand and supply.

  It was only in 2020 that the price of oil went negative for a brief period, hitting -$37 per barrel (negative US$23) in late April.

  For a period of a year or two, their financial statements were swimming in red ink.

  Now there is a shortage of supply, partly caused by the war in Ukraine, but mostly by the energy transition, with governments deliberately restricting new oil and gas developments. Purchasers know there is not enough to go around, so they are bidding the price up.

  This is how shortages are supposed to be handled—high prices encourage new developments and new supply, which eventually increases supply and lowers cost.

  Greedy for Profits or Just Better Business Practice?

  You can’t blame the energy companies for taking the prices their customers want to give them.

  The argument for food is similarly flawed. Take Woolworths, with 37 percent of the Australian grocery market, who reported their first half results this week. Profit is up 18 percent, but not because food prices are up. Their turnover in food is up only 2.5 percent, less than the rate of inflation.

  Increased profit appears to be the result of better management, increased sales in Big W, and rotation from expensive products into cheaper but more profitable home brands.

  The Australia Institute’s chief economist Richard Dennis points to an increase in the share of the economy of Capital Profits.

  However, as the graph below shows, labour has remained quite stable as a share of the economy, with the greatest retreat being “Gross Mixed Income.”

  Analysis by the Reserve Bank of Australia fingers the rise in the housing market and the financialisation of the economy (as it becomes more white-collar) as the reason for these moves.

  

  Labour and Capital Income. (Reserve Bank of Australia)

  There is nothing unusual about politicians seeking to implicate someone else in their failures, but there is a real inflationary danger here.

  If the public is convinced that it is corporate profit gouging that is causing the problem that can lead to price caps and super-taxes, that actually makes the problems worse.

  It can also trigger unsustainable wage rises, meant to rectify the situation but which, in fact, perpetuate the vicious cycle of spiralling price increases and inflation.

  By world standards, inflation is relatively low in Australia at the moment. Bad analysis followed by bad policy could change that and entrench high inflation for a lot longer.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 21:25

• Living At The Mall? Only In California…
  Living At The Mall? Only In California…

  Real estate developers in Orange County, California are about to make some dreams come true, after the City Council adopted a plan to build thousands of apartments, lawns, walking trails and other amenities at the Westminster Mall.

  

  The new mall would contain at least 600,000 square feet of retail space, up to 3,000 residential units, and up to 425 hotel rooms – all surrounded by a 17-acre park.

  “It was the hip place to be, and it’s really faded out, but it’s just sad to see it go,” said KL DeHart, who grew up in Orange County in the late 1970s, and often wandered the mall with her mother, the LA Times reports.

  Hart, a 55-year-old massage therapist who lives near the mall in the house she grew up in is one of the locals who are worried that the new apartments will increase traffic while doing nothing to solve the area’s housing affordability issues.

  In Orange County, the San Fernando Valley and suburbs throughout America, the mall was a gathering spot where there were few other places to hang out. It was where kids stocked up on the latest fashions and roamed in packs after school, spawning the term “mall rat.”

  The 1980s cult classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” began and ended at the mall where the teens worked. In the 1995 film “Clueless,” a Beverly Hills teen retreated to the mall, which she described as a “sanctuary,” after failing to persuade a teacher to boost her grade.

  Now, teenagers text with their friends and make TikTok videos. Their parents are more likely to shop online than at a brick-and-mortar store. -LA Times

  Orange County, meanwhile, is desperate for new housing as rents and prices skyrocket in an area where there is little to no underdeveloped land.

  According to City Manager Christine Cordon, the Westminster Mall is “probably one of the largest areas of developable space that still exists in our time in this area.”

  “This is really our opportunity to create something that we can be absolutely proud of for the next generation to create those same fond memories that I have and that others have in a fashion that is consistent with what the times are now,” said Cordon.

  According to Shopoff Realty Investments CEO, Bill Shopoff, upscale malls thrive because “they have entertainment, food, there’s a reason to go there,” adding “I think we need to do that in Westminster to create a sense of something.”

  And who might be interested in living at the mall? Shopoff – who purchased the Macy’s store and the former Sears store in the Westminster Mall last year – is counting on ‘a modern type of suburban dweller,’ who would rather walk to restaurants and other things than live in a single-family home suburban house with a yard.

  Experts say that new laws, along with increased pressure from the state to build more homes, have convinced some local officials who might have been resistant to rezoning commercial properties in the past.

  Roughly every eight years, California cities are assigned a certain number of new housing units they’re required to zone for. As part of the 2020 assessment, Orange County needs to make space for about 183,000 new units, shared among all its cities.

  Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two pieces of legislation aimed at spurring housing development in corridors otherwise zoned for large retail and office buildings. -LA Times

  “Whether you want to call Orange County urban suburbia or suburban urbanism, it’s definitely shifting,” said Elizabeth Hansburg, People for Housing Orange County co-founder and executive director. “We have an interesting mix of historic districts and tract housing of the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and even the ’70s, but I don’t see us building like that again. It’s going to be interesting to see how families evolve in denser spaces.”

  Meanwhile, Simon Property Group is reportedly opening additional residential zoning in its Mission Viejo mall, and has proposed redeveloping 15.5 acres of the Brea mall to include apartments, a resort-style fitness center, shops and a large green space.

  That said, some of the locals, such as DeHart are furious, and insist they aren’t just NIMBYs.

  “That’s not what this is,” she said. “We’re asking legitimate questions, and we’re not getting answers.”

  Residents have also voiced concerns about ‘tall residential buildings looming above single-family homes.’

  Despite their concerns, city officials such as Laguna Hills Mayor Janine Heft say change is needed.

  “There’s a lot of nostalgia for what the mall used to be,” she said. “What we didn’t want was a blight, and that’s really what we had. We had this mall that hadn’t been kept up in years.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 21:05

• "Yankee Tax" Proposed By South Carolina Lawmaker
  “Yankee Tax” Proposed By South Carolina Lawmaker

  A South Carolina state Senator wants to hit new residents with a $500 “Yankee Tax” for moving to the Palmetto state.

  

  The bill, proposed by Sen. Stephen Goldfinch (R), would require those moving to South Carolina from out-of-state to pay two one-time fees; $250 for vehicle registrations and $250 for a new driver’s license. Half of the new fee would go toward the state’s infrastructure – including roads, bridges and common community areas, according to Fox Business.

  “I’m not trying to build a wall and this is not a fee against new residents, it’s a fee for people to catch up with the rest of us,” Goldfinch told Fox News Digital. “I think there’s a rational basis for requiring newcomers to catch up with the rest of us and contribute to the roads, bridges, schools and green spaces that we’ve [residents] always contributed to.”

  His proposal comes after droves of people from the Northeast have moved to South Carolina in recent years. According to the U.S. Census, nearly half a million people moved to the Palmetto State in the past decade.

  People flocked to the Southeast during the pandemic and stayed due to a host of reasons, including work flexibility, lower taxes and warmer weather.

  Goldfinch points to South Carolina residents as inspiration for the bill. -Fox Business

  “Our quality of life has been diminished by the almost 4 million people that have moved here in the last decade,” said Goldfinch. “And we anticipate another million people moving here in the next decade. Everybody is concerned about their quality of life.”

  The new fees will be available for debate next week on the South Carolina Senate floor.

  As Fox Business points out, South Carolina isn’t the only state trying to slap people with moving taxes – as California and New York have both proposed legislation to tax people leaving their state.

  “If you can charge people to leave, I don’t see any reason why you can’t charge somebody to come in the door,” said Goldfinch.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 20:55

• Biden Supports 'Safe And Secure' Gain-of-Function Research, White House Says
  Biden Supports ‘Safe And Secure’ Gain-of-Function Research, White House Says

  Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClear Wire,

  While the White House reported Monday that the U.S. intelligence community has not yet reached a “consensus” on the origins of the COVID-19 virus, the Biden administration voiced support for the practice of gain-of-function research, so long as it was done safely, securely, and with transparency.

  

  As complicated as it is complex, such research generally refers to the intentional manipulation of viruses to make them more transmissible, and therefore more dangerous, in order to study them. Critics argue the risks outweigh any potential reward if this kind of research goes wrong.

  Congressional Republicans, led by Sens. Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, and Rand Paul, say that the coronavirus likely leaked from a Chinese research facility in Wuhan that was engaging in that kind of research and have called for a moratorium on federal funding to any university or organizations conducting gain-of-function studies.

  When RealClearPolitics asked Monday if President Biden thought gain of function was “prudent,” John Kirby, the president’s National Security Council spokesman replied that he did.

  “He believes that it’s important to help prevent future pandemics, which means he understands that there has to be legitimate scientific research into the sources or potential sources of pandemics so that we understand it so that we can prevent them and we prevent them from happening obviously,” Kirby said before adding that the president believed any such research “must be done in a safe and secure manner and as transparent as possible to the rest of the world.”

  To sum up, Kirby then told RCP, “I think that’s a fancy way of saying ‘yes.’”

  The Obama administration reached a different conclusion in 2014 and halted taxpayer funding for such research. Three years later, during the Trump administration, the National Institute of Health lifted that moratorium.

  Republicans have accused the NIH of funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through an intermediary, the American biomedical company EcoHealth Alliance. Dr. Anthony Fauci, formerly the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Congress in May of 2021 that NIH “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

  Critics have returned to that controversy in light of new reporting by the Wall Street Journal that the Energy Department has concluded the COVID-19 most likely arose from a laboratory leak. That theory was first posited during the Trump administration and widely dismissed at the time as a conspiracy theory. It increasingly seems plausible after a separate earlier analysis by the FBI concluded that the lab in Wuhan was the “likely” origin of the virus.

  “If we have learned anything from this pandemic, it’s that risky virus-enhancing research – like the type conducted in Wuhan that was funded by the U.S. government – needs more oversight and regulation,” Rand Paul told RCP.

  A physician and a vocal critic of Fauci, Paul added that “worldwide approximately 15 million people died – the memory of their deaths demands that we have more scrutiny of this dangerous research.”

  Congressional Republicans already promised more oversight and investigations into the issue, especially after the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General wrote in a report last month that “NIH did not effectively monitor or take timely action to address” whether EcoHealth Alliance complied with reporting requirements. 

  The White House did not confirm the WSJ report but reiterated that Biden had “doubled down” and ordered that considerable resources are put behind “getting to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19.” Republicans, meanwhile, continue to argue that Biden is going soft on Beijing.

  “The Biden White House won’t have credibility on safe scientific research so long as it continues to dismiss the growing evidence that COVID came from a gain-of-function lab accident in China,” Marco Rubio, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told RCP.

  Biden drew the ire of Republicans last summer when his administration declined to say whether the president personally urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to cooperate with international investigations of the pandemic’s origin. So far, Beijing has not done so, blocking the World Health Organization, for instance, from conducting additional on-the-ground probe.

  Asked if the president has broached the issue, Kirby noted how the administration has regularly called on Beijing to be more transparent and told RCP that Biden called for additional cooperation “when he met with President Xi in Bali just a couple of months ago.” A White House readout of that meeting, as the New York Post reported at the time, did not include any mention of the origins of COVID.

  Controversy continues on the gain-of-function front. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NASB) recommended sweeping new changes to how the government regulates gain-of-function experiments last month. As the New York Times reported, the decision now rests with the Biden administration as it seeks to balance the apparent need for research to prevent a pandemic with the possibility of that kind of research inadvertently jumpstarting a plague.

  “If the government implements the spirit of what they’ve written,” Gregory Koblentz, a biodefense specialist at George Mason University, told the Times, “this would be a major overhaul of dual-use research oversight in the United States.”

  That kind of research remains “vital for ensuring the United States is prepared to rapidly detect, respond to, and recover from future infectious disease threats,” Acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak said last year. What is needed is balance, he explained in a February 2021 statement announcing the review by the NASB board. “Such research can be inherently high risk given the possibility of biosafety lapses or deliberate misuse,” Tabak said. “However, not doing this type of research could impair our ability to prepare for and/or respond to future consequential biological threats.”

  As the New York Times noted, the White House will soon decide whether to adopt the new recommendations for how gain of function should be handled. Biden, as Kirby told RCP, believes that kind of research can be done prudently.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 20:45

• How Politically Divided Are Social Media Networks?
  How Politically Divided Are Social Media Networks?

  Social media has the reputation of being a battlefield of political ideology, with the political left and right in constant conflict on networks like Twitter or Facebook.

  But do people further on the left or on the right really prefer social media more than centrists?

  And does political affiliation have an influence on someone’s preferred social media network?

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, some answers to these questions can be gleaned from the Statista Consumer Insights survey when cross-referencing preference for the use of social media with participants’ self-reported political orientation.

  According to the results, there are no major gaps in preference for most social media platforms among Americans, but there are some interesting differences.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Facebook is the platform where centrists feel most at home. The group tends to stay away more from other social media than those who see themselves as more distinctly on the right or on the left politically. While Facebook is somewhat underused by those on the left, if only by a small margin, TikTok and Instagram are the networks with the most equal left-right distribution.

  On Twitter, partisanism is the most pronounced, with somewhat more use by those on the right.

  Linkedin also shows slightly more use from this group, while the opposite is true on another less used network, Reddit. The results of this survey suggest that political stance has only very limited influence on social media use. There are differences, but they are only by a few percentage points and should therefore not be interpreted too strongly.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 20:25

• Watchdog To Probe Buttigieg’s Use Of Government Aircraft
  Watchdog To Probe Buttigieg’s Use Of Government Aircraft

  Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is facing an audit by its internal watchdog following reports about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s use of government aircraft.

  

  The Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in a memo on Monday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), citing news reports, requested the audit to determine whether Buttigieg’s use of government aircraft “complied with all applicable federal regulations” and DOT policies and procedures.

  According to the memo, the OIG will conduct its audit at DOT headquarters and other sites as needed, focusing on official trips taken since Jan. 31, 2017.

  The watchdog said the audit also aims to minimize cost and improve the management and use of government aviation resources and that it will begin “shortly.”

  Buttigieg, who has pushed for policies to end using the same fossil fuels used to power government jets, has faced criticism over his use of such aircraft, which, according to a 2021 report from the group Transport and Environment, are “10 times more carbon intensive than airliners on average, and 50 times more polluting than trains.”

  The transportation secretary responded on Twitter, welcoming the review and emphasizing that his use of government aircraft was mostly for official purposes and to save taxpayer money.

  “Glad this will be reviewed independently so misleading narratives can be put to rest. Bottom line: I mostly fly on commercial flights, in economy class. And when I do use our agency’s aircraft, it’s usually a situation where doing so saves taxpayer money,” Buttigieg wrote.

  According to the memo, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operates and maintains a fleet of aircraft on behalf of the DOT, which are used for various purposes, including transporting senior executives from both DOT and FAA.

  The Office of Management and Budget’s guidance allows executive department heads to travel on government aircraft, but there are restrictions.

  The guidance states that government aircraft can only be used for official travel or on a space-available basis, subject to certain policies and authorizations. According to the memo, this applies to all government-owned, leased, chartered, and rental aircraft and related services operated by executive agencies.

  Rubio, Grassley Letters

  On Dec. 16, 2022, Rubio called for the watchdog review after Fox News reported on Buttigieg’s use of taxpayer-funded private jets in the United States and internationally “at least 18 different times since taking office.”

  The total cost of Buttigieg’s flights is unknown, but according to The Washington Post, the FAA charged federal agencies $5,000 per hour to use its aircraft.

  “If these reports are confirmed, it would represent yet another troubling example of this administration’s continued willingness to skirt basic ethics rules,” Rubio wrote (pdf)

  The Fox News report cited flight tracking data obtained by independent watchdog group Americans for Public Trust.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 20:05

• Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A Bans Diners 16 And Under Without Adult Supervision
  Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A Bans Diners 16 And Under Without Adult Supervision

  As an increasingly disturbing trend of outright chaos spreads through U.S. cities, with leftist politicians unable to grasp the elementary concept that crime should not be encouraged, one Chick-fil-A in Pennsylvania is starting to enforce their own rules to maintain order.

  In a trend we are sure will likely spread, a Montgomery County, PA Chick-fil-A is now banning people under the age of 16 from dining on its premises without adult supervision. The decision came after a sequence of “unacceptable behaviors”, according to CBS News.

  The company announced its decision on Facebook last week, stating: “We contemplated long and hard before posting this, but decided it was time. Often on Saturdays and days when schools are off, we have school-age children visiting the restaurant without their parents. Usually, these children and teens are dropped off for several hours at a local bounce park and groups of them then walk over to our restaurant.”

  

  It continued: “While we love being a community restaurant and serving guests of all ages, some issues need to be addressed.” The restaurant said of the children and teens that they are “loud, and their conversation often contains a lot of explicit language. We are a family friendly restaurant where this is not tolerated.”

  They also said that “Food and trash are often thrown around and left on the tables, chairs, and on the floor. Tables and restrooms are vandalized. Decorations are stolen.”

  The restaurant also stood up to protect its employees, stating that they are “laughed at, made fun of and treated rudely. Employees are cursed at and ignored when they ask the children and teens to either change their behavior or leave.”

  The restaurant concluded:

  As you can imagine, this is not a pleasant experience. We want to provide a comfortable and safe environment for our guests and our staff, and also to protect our building. Therefore, we cannot allow this to continue. As a result, to dine in our restaurant, anyone under the age of 16 is required to be accompanied by an adult. If not accompanied by an adult, they may come in to purchase food, but must take it to go.

  To those unaccompanied children and teens that have visited us and acted appropriately, we thank you. But we also apologize. Due to the numerous extreme behaviors of many of your peers, we must make a blanket rule covering anyone under the age of 16.

  One father said: “It makes sense. When kids get together, it’s the herd mentality and I’ve seen it. I like the way they’ve handled it, saying it’s not parents’ fault, just kids getting together. I think they’re just loud. Common sense is not common, so they don’t know to keep down the tone of their language and the volume. I’m sure my kids are the same way.”

  

  Customer Gary Walens told CBS: “If the kids are getting unruly and going into places like this, the owners have to do something. These are businesses that are trying to make a profit and if the kids are coming in and causing havoc in this restaurant and not allowing normal business, I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

  While law abiding patrons and the owners/franchisees of the restaurant likely see this as a common sense solution to a growing problem across the nation, we’re sure it’s only a matter of time before some ACLU lawyer files a discrimination suit on behalf of unaccompanied children under the age of 16 as a class. Heck, maybe the carrot on a string of a possible settlement will actually get the parents involved in their childrens’ lives for a while and bring them closer.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 19:45

• A Partisan Judge's Parting Rampage
  A Partisan Judge’s Parting Rampage

  Authored by Julie Kelly via American Greatness,

  Defense lawyers call it “January 6 jurisprudence”—a unique set of rules and laws that only apply to those ensnared in the Justice Department’s unstoppable push to punish individuals who do not believe Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president of the United States. So far, nearly 1,000 Americans have been arrested and charged, mostly on low-level misdemeanors, for their involvement in the Capitol protest as the regime circles its ultimate prize: Donald Trump.

  

  The fundamental “crime” that acts as the basis of January 6 jurisprudence is not necessarily the four-hour disturbance that temporarily delayed the certification process that day. No, the real crime—to hear regime apparatchiks, the media (but I repeat myself), and Democratic Party politicians (including Biden himself) tell it—is promoting the “Big Lie,” the notion that the 2020 presidential election was rigged or stolen.

  Efforts to uncover election irregularities or lawfully object to the outcome are under criminal investigation resulting in the unprecedented weaponization of legal and judicial authority conducted by unaccountable prosecutors and judges.

  Enabling this farce in the nation’s capital is Beryl Howell, the chief judge of the D.C. District Court. A former Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill, Howell was appointed to the bench by Barack Obama in 2010 and elevated to chief judge in 2016. Since then, Howell has steered the government’s yearslong effort to put Trump in handcuffs. She managed the grand jury proceedings for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and is currently overseeing the Justice Department’s latest iteration of its “Get Trump” campaign—a sweeping investigation into alleged attempts to “overturn” the 2020 election.

  Her latest broadside is aimed at Representative Scott Perry (R-Pa.). FBI agents, acting at the direction of the rogue Washington Field Office, stole Perry’s cell phone on August 9, 2022, the day after the same office executed an armed raid at Mar-a-Lago. Perry was traveling with his family in New Jersey at the time when agents seized his phone, copied its contents, and returned the device. 

  Perry’s lawyers immediately attempted to keep the contents of the phone out of the hands of a leak-happy Justice Department, citing privacy and privilege factors, including the Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which basically protects the legislative branch from retaliatory actions by the executive branch. When Perry initially refused to waive that protection at the request of the Justice Department, the government successfully sought a second warrant a few days later to review what investigators collected from the phone.

  And that’s when Judge Howell stepped in.

  “After a determination that there was probable cause to believe that evidence of criminal activity would be found on the targeted cell phone, the government’s search warrant was approved,” Howell wrote in one motion filed in the mostly sealed case.

  The second search warrant was reportedly approved by Howell on August 18.

  Since then, Howell has wielded her power to prove herself right. A grand jury under her purview is “investigating potential federal criminal law violations stemming from efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” Howell wrote. According to the government, Howell noted, Perry used his phone “to communicate with individuals allegedly engaged in those efforts over critical time periods at issue in the investigation.”

  That’s just a sliver of the crazy talk in Howell’s 51-page motion rejecting most of Perry’s arguments about why roughly 2,200 emails and texts qualify for protection under the speech and debate clause. Perry’s motions remain under seal, but his privilege claims appear to be centered around Congress’ obligations to administer the Electoral Count Act.

  Following a private review in October of the records that Perry sought to protect, Howell determined only a handful met the clause’s standards. The remaining 2,055 records, including correspondence and materials exchanged between other House members and Executive Branch officials, were fair game, Howell concluded.

  “In the broadest possible terms, Rep. Perry believes the Clause shields all these responsive records from investigative review because they are part of his informal fact-finding efforts to understand election security issues in the 2020 election since the ECA process obligated Rep. Perry to vote on whether to confirm the electors and certify the 2020 election,” Howell wrote in December. “What is plain is that the Clause does not shield Rep. Perry’s random musings with private individuals touting an expertise in cybersecurity or political discussions with attorneys from a presidential campaign, or with state legislators concerning hearings before them about possible local election fraud.”

  On that point, Howell unintentionally tipped the government’s hand. Why would the Justice Department need those communications for a criminal investigation? It’s not illegal to have any of those discussions, even for the imaginary crime of attempting to overturn an election. Clearly, prosecutors want Perry’s texts and emails to leak to regime media cut-outs in an effort to embarrass him, its modus operandi since January 6.

  In one particularly sneering line, Howell mocked Perry’s “wide-ranging interest in bolstering his belief that the results of the 2020 election were somehow incorrect—even in the face of his own reelection.” (Howell routinely condemns January 6 defendants in her courtroom for believing the “Big Lie.” Last April, Howell asked a man pleading guilty to trespassing whether he still believed that Biden did not legitimately win the presidency. He answered no.)

  In a follow-up order filed on January 4, Howell raised “the public’s interest in an expedient investigation” as to why she would not halt her demand for Perry to turn over the records in question to the Justice Department. She gave Perry two days to file an appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court.

  And the very next day, the appellate court issued an emergency order to put Howell’s ruling on hold.

  A three-judge appellate court panel heard arguments in the case last week. According to Politico, at least two judges were skeptical of Howell’s—and the Justice Department’s —thinking. “‘Why wouldn’t an individual member’s fact-finding be covered?’ Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, asked a Justice Department lawyer.

  It could be a few months before the appellate court issues a ruling. In the meantime, investigators don’t have access to Perry’s cell phone records. (Or at least that is how it’s supposed to be.)

  By then, the D.C. District court will have a new chief judge; Howell’s stint ends soon. Which is one reason the Justice Department is accelerating the pace of its investigation, including subpoenaing former Vice President Mike Pence a few weeks ago. 

  “The frenzy of subpoenas comes as Judge Beryl Howell’s seven-year term as chief judge of the D.C. district court enters its last month,” the Wall Street Journal recently observed. “In that post, she has presided over all grand-jury matters in Washington and repeatedly ruled for the Justice Department in closed-door disputes with Mr. Trump over executive privilege.”

  Prosecutors undoubtedly will miss Howell’s machinations on behalf of the government. As her rulings in Perry’s case once again show, Howell is a shameless partisan willing to twist the law, and the U.S. Constitution, to advance her own political agenda. She is the queen of January 6 jurisprudence.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 19:25

• Studio And One Bedroom Apartment Sizes Are Shrinking Across The U.S.
  Studio And One Bedroom Apartment Sizes Are Shrinking Across The U.S.

  While it may not always be obvious that quality of life is plunging in the U.S., as inflation eats away at our savings and shrinkflation makes its way through all consumer products, one new report shows exactly how it is effecting the apartment market.

  A new study from RentCafe shows that the national apartment size for studios and 1 bedroom apartments is shrinking – meaning that not only are prices on the rise across the country – but your dollar is getting you less square footage than ever. 

  

  Among the findings by Adina Dragos, who penned the results of the study, were:

  • The average size of new apartments in 2022 was 887 square feet — a 54 square-foot drop since 10 years ago. It was also the largest year-over-year decrease, down 30 square feet.  
  • Among other factors, the drop in size can be attributed to more studios and one-bedroom apartments entering the market in 2022, reaching a historic share of 57%.
  • Tallahassee, FL, led the nation with the largest apartments, while Seattle offered the smallest apartments.
  • Apartments in Tucson, AZ, saw the largest increase in apartment size.
  • Silver Spring, MD, apartments saw the largest decrease in the last 10 years. 

  The study pointed out the very noticeable drop in the most significant changes in apartment size in the 100 largest U.S. cities:

  One can note from the chart that the decreasing trend continued once again after some slight respite during the pandemic, when apartment sizes briefly got larger in size. This data “confirmed the developers’ quick response to the need for more space during the pandemic”, according to RentCafe. 

  “Yet, 2022 presented a different story: With one of the highest levels of construction in half a century, the year was marked by the need for more housing all across the country. As such, more studios and one-bedroom apartments were finished in 2022 than ever before. In fact, the share of smaller units reached a historic high of 57% in 2022 — a significant change compared to 10 years ago, when they represented exactly half of apartments built,” the report says. 

  By region, the study noted that “renters in the South enjoyed an extra 106 square feet compared to the national average”. 

  

  The report also noted a shift in sizing trends on the West Coast, stating “The Pacific Northwest has overtaken California as the region with the least amount of apartment space”. 

  We’re sure this has nothing to do with the exodus in the midst of taking place from cities like San Francisco. 

  

  Coming in at the top of the list with the most space were cities like Tallahassee and Gainesville, Florida. After that came Mobile, Alabama and Knoxville, TN. 

  

  The study was undertaken using RentCafe.com, a nationwide apartment search website that enables renters to easily find apartments and houses for rent throughout the United States. Apartment size and rent data were provided by Yardi Matrix, a RentCafe sister company specializing in apartment market intelligence and providing up-to-date information on large-scale, multifamily properties of 50 units or more in more than 130 U.S. markets.

  You can read the results of the full study here.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 19:05

• Is The Recession Already Here?
  Is The Recession Already Here?

  Authored by Jeffrey Snider via RealClearMarkets.com,

  It was a sudden and epic flood of oil the likes of which the country hadn’t seen before. According to the government’s numbers, the Energy Information Administration, over a seven-week period domestic stocks of crude gushed by a then-record 34.4 million barrels. The last time America had experienced close to that number was March and April 1990, just prior to the start of what should have been called the S&L recession.

  

  This was again March and April, though in the year 2001. Up to the prior November, policymakers and Economists had refused to consider anything other than inflation as their top priority, much of it – as always – driven by oil prices.

  WTI, the major US benchmark, had been under $20 per barrel in the summer of 1999. From then, prices started to rise and by the time the NASDAQ would reach its epic top in early 2000 crude was trading just more than $34. Consumer price indices reflected that jump.

  It would slack off over the following months before a late summer rebound rekindled Alan Greenspan’s (faulty) inflation instincts. Back at $37 a barrel in September 2000, even as clear signs of economic weakness spread throughout the macro catalog, the “maestro” was far more concerned about the tight labor market he and his colleagues perceived.

  That’s the funny thing about CPIs and PCE Deflators, or one of the weirdest aspects of how they’re used. Variation in those is most directly attributable to WTI and its influence on gasoline. There is, and remains today, a steady and dependable correlation.

  Yet, for all the fuss and bother over perceived inflation risks, at the FOMC, anyway, it never has much to do with oil, how oil gets used and by how much. Rather, policymakers place all their focus on the bastardization of the relationship British economist AW Phillips once upon a time had modestly suggested.  

  The Phillips Curve proposes a link between tight labor markets, as denoted by a very low unemployment rate, and competition for workers. Scarcity among them in a robust economy would lead firms to increase wage and pay scales as fewer become readily available, raising input costs which those businesses might rationally pass along to their consumer customers in what’s (incorrectly) called inflation.

  Should the labor market be so good, consumers as workers would be able to afford higher prices, absorbing them but not before demanding even higher pay back on the job; the dreaded and totally theoretical wage-price spiral.

  As late as November 2000, the FOMC would not budge from the unemployment rate.

  “CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. All in all, I think that we have, as all of you have said, a combination of the potential persistence of significant inflationary pressures and an unquestioned increase in overall signs of weakness. In other words, my judgment, and I guess I agree with almost everybody else, is that it would be premature to move to a balanced risk statement.”

  Up to that time, policymakers at least had oil prices on their side, so to speak. WTI would bounce around in the $30s from September forward, and by the time the Committee met in November it was still up around $35. As a result, consumer price indices would likewise remain uncomfortable considering the Fed’s implicit inflation targeting somewhere around 2%.

  Sure enough, from the moment Chairman Greenspan uttered those words, oil would tumble. By the end of 2000, it would reach the $25s just as the FOMC completely reversed course and began cutting its federal funds target once 2001 began.

  They did so not yet convinced the US was experiencing any worse than a minor slowdown. The purpose of the initial rate cut as well as the few more which quickly followed was to ensure exactly that, the economy would decelerate but not fall into a recession; to engineer what some would call a soft landing.

  The idea, even expectation of one persisted despite more troubling developments, including the sudden surge of oil inventories which from the outside had been a clear sign – like Spring 1990 – that something was badly amiss in terms of general economic demand.

  Another such warning came on April 18, 2001. On that date, the FOMC was hastily gathered telephonically to rubber stamp the third consecutive 50-bps rate cut, this one unscheduled. While the group was talking, the Census Bureau reported US trade figures for the month of March.

  The country’s merchandise deficit fell sharply because, in the words of Greenspan that day, “In short, they show a significant decline in imports. In fact, I think it is the sharpest decline we’ve had in many years.” While a few policymakers thought this some kind of positive, notably Vice Chairman Bill McDonough (who actually said, out loud, the following: “The drop in merchandise imports is good news for our economy”), any rational thinkers among the bunch knew it indicated nothing of the sort.

  Along with the sharp rise in oil inventories, the equally sharp fall in imports signaled the start of what only later would be dated and called the dot-com recession.

  Before the NBER would finally make their call much later on November 26, only then noting how March 2001 must have been when it began, for some time further forecasts still called for the same soft landing. In the middle of May, for example, Economist Dave Stockton presented the staff’s projections which even then showed, “First, we believe that the economy, at present, is very weak–not in recession, but not far from it either.”

  The primary reason for that weakness was, back to Mr. Stockton, “the most intense weakness remains centered in the factory sector.” Inventories of all goods and not just oil had jumped as consumer and business demand had declined if only modestly, thus accounting for imports, that oil glut, the entirety of what became the dot-com contraction.

  Over the two decades-plus since then, hardly anything has changed how the economy works or how the Fed thinks about it. Inflation bias remains as strong as ever (2021 aside), and the vast majority of it continues to be drawn from the Phillips Curve perspective. Yet, like before, the CPI will be most affected by what does happen from oil.

  According to the EIA’s latest estimates right up to last week, oil inventories in the US have absolutely exploded, rising an incredible 58.4 million barrels in just seven weeks (the same period of comparison as stated earlier for 2001). This is, obviously, nearly double the glut from twenty-two winters ago.

  

  While not a new record, this fact provides very little comfort. The only seven-week period when crude stocks rose more was that time when COVID fears had shut down large swaths of economic, civil, and just daily life in the country – from the week of March 13 to and including the week of May 1, 2020, domestic inventories added 78.5 million barrels.

  To be even in the same general vicinity as then is a huge warning.

  The only other instance when oil inventories have gained as much in such a short period was February and March 2015. Back then, the massive rise was immediately blamed on shale oil production as if output which had taken years of investment to pull off had been surprisingly robust all of a sudden.

  While supplies did indeed grow, that growth has hardly unanticipated. What had been, as always, was a sharp drop in global and domestic demand, the former in the form of a major depression in economies worldwide, devastating particularly emerging markets beginning with China and in a way none of them have yet recovered.

  That in mind, it was China especially upon which many had pinned their hopes for 2023 revival. Rationalizing Xi Jinping’s highly irrational (from a certain view) Zero-COVID as the reason for the Chinese stumbling in 2022, its removal at the end of last year was spun into the greatest relief effort just in the nick of time.

  Despite so much radical hype, it isn’t showing up in these places where it really should. As the world’s largest user and importer of oil, an unfettered and legitimately rebounding China economy would have scavenged every last drop of spare oil from the world’s hamstrung crude producers.

  Rather than surge, domestic stocks would be drained even more than they had been last year as the thirsty crude dragon reawakened to its high energy needs.

  But this isn’t just about the (inevitable?) thorough disappointment about to flood the world from that side of the Pacific. It is, like 2001 and 1990, quite a lot about US demand, too. Furthermore, it should be pointed out the US imports of goods were down huge last November (before very modestly rebounding in December; January figures have yet to be released).

  The oil market has been pricing therefore predicting this scenario from way back when US inbound trade was crashing to finish up 2022. Domestic crude futures had shifted into small but noticeable and more importantly persisting contango since the middle part of November.

  This particular shape induces more crude oil toward storage than to be used immediately, a financial incentive where future months’ prices are higher than the current contract rewarding anyone to buy oil on the spot market today to store until those future months having already sold it forward at the higher futures price.

  In a situation where supply is as low and perpetually limited as the entire global system has been experiencing since 2020, any modest contango should not be happening. Rewarding the taking of current supply off the market for storage when oil supply has been the single biggest factor behind the world’s “inflation” problem, this just goes to show how much demand must’ve changed.

  For those currently occupying those cushy seats at the FOMC, like 2001 this solves their “inflation dilemma” since the oil prices which actually do drive consumer price indices aren’t likely at all to do much more menacing. But what that really means is how this unfortunately opens up the very serious possibility recession has already happened.  

  What’s mainly in question today is how long before anyone captured by Greenspan lore realizes it. From the last FOMC meeting minutes released this week, as always officials continue to be wholly concentrated on the “tight” labor market as many see it and what the Phillips theory tells them to expect for subsequent consumer price pressures that are already being set instead by this abrupt glut of oil.

  Once they do realize, as inverted curves have been long predicting, what follows will be the usual conference calls and emergency rate cuts.

  Then many months further down the road the NBER will come along to confirm what by then will have been obvious to everyone unattached to the mainstream Economics discipline.

  There are always those who say this time is different when it comes to curve inversions, for a variety of often disingenuous and occasionally comical “reasons.” This time has been no different in that regard. It’s also near exactly the same in a whole bunch of other ways, too, starting with the Fed’s fixation on misleading labor data, then its unnatural need to disregard the oil market for at least making useful forecasts about the CPI.

  Consumer prices aren’t the problem, not anymore. Right when optimism and even talk of “transitory disinflation” have been heating up, suddenly all the oil in the world has shown up to spoil those and a whole lot more. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 02/28/2023 – 18:45